The Quiet Place

If you’ve hung around church long enough, you have probably heard of “the quiet place”, “prayer closet”, “devotional time” and so on. Pragmatically speaking, this means to set aside some time to practice your spiritual disciplines such as prayer, reading scripture, meditating, etc. But if you are a practicing Christian, you know it’s much deeper than that. It’s not just an external discipline but an internal place we go. It’s a place we access and connect with the presence of God. 

 

There are similar practices in the world and other religions that practice these types of things but they are all rooted in something different. The Christian practice is rooted in the understanding that God’s temple is now our bodies and His presence, because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and our committed confession in that, now dwells inside of us. 

 

This place is available to all Christians but not everyone goes there. To be honest, many Christians fall into the “religion” of it all and are satisfied with weekly Bible plans on an app or a daily 5-minute prayer on the way to work. I’m not making fun of those things because they have their place but I’d like to submit to you that there is more. 

 

This practice of the quiet place is seen throughout the Bible but the most impactful, in my mind, is when Jesus practices it. In the gospels of the New Testament, we read of Jesus going off to a secluded place where He connects with the Father. I’m sure He had scriptures that He read and prayers that He said but it seemed deeper than that. We see Him connecting with God. 

 

Jesus said multiple times that He only does and says what the Father tells Him to do and to say. That means that God was giving Jesus real time direction and commands - not just encouraging thoughts and a stamp of approval because of His prayer discipline.  

 

In Matthew 6, the disciples, the people who followed Jesus, finally asked him, “Lord, will you teach us how to pray?” Why did they ask Him that? The guys following Him were good little Jewish boys and men who knew all the same prayers Jesus knew. Is it possible that there was something different when Jesus prayed? It didn’t seem religious but authentic. They weren’t memorized, rehearsed prayers. They were filled with power from the relationship He had with God. 

 

So, Jesus begins to teach them. He begins by giving them an example. This is how you should pray. “Our Father in heaven”… Did you know this wasn’t a common practice until Jesus? You often heard Him called ‘Lord’, ‘God’, or ‘Yahweh’ but ‘Father’ wasn’t common. Jesus was letting His disciples know that this isn’t just some prescription on how to say a good prayer. He was showing them that prayer was supposed to be an intimate time with your Father. 

 

Right before this prayer, He tells them not to pray like the pagans or Pharisees. Pagans repeated the same prayers or chants mindlessly - a lot like today's practice of manifesting thoughts or incantations. This practice is often rooted in the same ideology that birthday wishes are, in a selfish want, and not in the hope to connect to the entity you're praying to. 

 

Also, the Pharisees, who were religious leaders of the day, prayed out in front of everyone to look holy. They knew how to play the religious/church games and looked as if they knew God. The truth was, they were dead inside. At one point, Jesus calls them, “whitewashed tombs'. They looked good on the outside but only death was on the inside. 

 

My hope is that you would practice visiting the quiet place, prayer closet, or unseen place in the right way. That you would know how to internally access the presence of God and hear from Him. That your Christian practice would be real and fruitful, not just a moral obligation. 

 

Blessings, 

Pastor Chad

 

  

Easter is over. Now what?

 If you are part of a church family, you spent last weekend celebrating the most important event of our Christian faith – the resurrection of Jesus Christ! Definitely worth celebrating!! Without the resurrection, there is no Christianity. Without the resurrection, Jesus was just a man who taught and did magnificent things and then died a gruesome death on a cross.

 

The purpose of His willing sacrifice was to reunite, or reconcile, us to God. The need for reconciliation begins with God’s holiness. God’s holiness is beyond our human comprehension. The Bible tells us that our self-righteousness is like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 46:12). It is God’s complete holiness, and our sin, that would separate us from Him forever were it not for the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus, who chose to cover us with His righteousness before God by paying with His life. “But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” (Romans 5:20)

 

The resurrection proves the plan of God. He provided a way to cover our sins so that we could have an earthly and eternal relationship with Him once again. That provision was Jesus. Now, when God looks at us – those who have chosen to accept Jesus’ gift - He sees His perfect, sinless Son. We can stand in the presence of our holy God, clothed in the righteousness and holiness of Jesus.

 

The close followers of Jesus, His disciples, were willing to die – and they did - for what they saw and what they believed – the resurrection of Christ. He appeared to hundreds of followers over the 40 days that He was alive on earth after rising from death. He did so to demonstrate to them that He was alive. He also prepared them for the task of telling the world about what they had witnessed.

 

After they watched Him ascend into heaven, the disciples were filled with Holy Spirit power as Jesus had promised. They could not stop telling everyone they encountered about what they had witnessed. With the power they were given, they performed miracles and shared the miraculous thing they had witnessed – the risen Jesus.

 

We Christians, too, have access to the resurrection power. From the moment we give Jesus our whole heart, His Holy Spirit becomes a part of us. Now that Easter is over, how will you respond?

 

The apostle Paul encouraged the early church of Philippi to continue to “work out their salvation”. This didn’t mean do good works as payment for the salvation of Jesus. He emboldened them to respond to Jesus’ love and sacrifice by acting in accordance with God’s good purpose for their lives. (Philippians 2:12)

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are you thankful for Jesus’ love and sacrifice and what that bought you? Are you seeking to work out your salvation in appreciation? What’s your purpose? It might be talking to a friend, family member or co-worker about how your life is better and your eternal future is secure because of the gift of Jesus. It might be getting more involved in the work of the church. It might be any number of things that God would ask of you to bring Him glory and to grow His Kingdom.

 

Scary? Maybe . . . but you have the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit within you – a gift of the resurrected Jesus. Walk it out!

 

Sylvia Gaston

Family Ministry Pastor

The Good News

The Good News 

Have you turned on the TV lately? Or checked out the news apps on your phone? The list of tragedy, conflict, and challenge in our world seem insurmountable. Each day, there’s a new development or something totally new and devastating. The temptation to live overwhelmed is massive. It’s no wonder that there is a rise in anxiety and depression. The bad news is out there for all of us to know in real time. 

During this Holy Week, the week bookended by Jesus’ triumphant entry and His resurrection, I want to put my mind on the Good News. If this is not a habit of yours, I encourage you, challenge you, implore you to do as the scriptures tells us, ‘put your mind on things above, not on earthly things.’ (Colossians 3:2) While we see and read and experience these things on earth, our minds do not have to be “put on” those things. On what foundation is your mind resting today? It is not easy. It’s actually a discipline for me, a mental practice throughout the day, to place my mind on good things, on good news, on that heavenly perspective.

Here are some things I am setting my mind on today, some good news worth resting my thoughts.

• While the world seems to be getting darker, God’s presence doesn’t leave or change. 

• The Church is not broken by adversity, instead she grows in maturity and resolve to accomplish her mission of glorifying God, building the believers, and reaching the world. 

• What a tool we have in the internet and social media to declare good news to more people! 

• We do not have to earn our salvation. It is given freely. 

• We can be confident of our salvation, not because of our good behavior, but because of our Good Savior. I will make mistakes, but I do not have to doubt the power of grace. 

• When you pay attention, listen closely, and keep your eyes focused on Jesus, you become aware of His transformative power operating all around us! The Holy Spirit is on the move, changing lives every day! 

• We have incredible access to scripture in our country!

• The pain we experience on this planet is not going to be wasted. God works all things out for His glory and we get to grow. 

• The earth is groaning for the return of our King, and I believe what He said - He is coming again. It may or may not be in my lifetime, but I know He will do what He said He will do. 

• We get to celebrate Easter, the holiday of our King rising Himself from the grave, conquering death! 

Ok, those are 10 bits of Good News that came to the top of my head right now. What’s your 10 for today? 

Let’s be a people who can call out the Good News quickly. In the gospel of Luke, we learn of Jesus healing 10 men with leprosy. While they were leaving to go show themselves cleansed to the officials, only one returned to give thanks to the one who healed Him. Jesus even commented about the others who did not say thank you. Let’s be like that one today. There IS good news…God makes sure of that! Let’s celebrate the Good News every day! We celebrate on our own, with each other, and with our Lord! 

Candace Cortez is Executive Pastor at Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. She can be reached at candace@kchanford.com or 559-582-1528.