The Alteration:

Luke 9:29 - “...And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white...”

When I was younger, I was always a chunky little guy. When I was 10 years old, I couldn’t buy clothes in the “ten year old clothes area.” I had to go to the store where the older kids shopped to find the waste that fit me. However, the pant legs would end up being 6 inches to long! So I would have them altered to properly fit my height. Having said all that, here is one definition of the word altered: changed in order to improve or make more fit for a particular purpose.
What an amazing truth we can learn about the power of prayer! I will admit, that my strength lies in reading the Bible and trying to allow the Spirit of God to speak to me and change me through scripture. But I am desperate, to allow prayer to consume my life to a greater level than it does already. Think about it—”Jesus’ face was altered as he prayed.” As we pray, areas of our life are altered. Our thought life; our vision for what God wants us to do; our relationship with our spouse and children; our finances; etc… As we pray, areas of our life become altered (changed in order to improve us or make us more fit for a particular purpose]. So, the more we pray, the more we are “changed in order to improve us and make us more fit for the kingdom of God! “ Take the challenge with me; instead of us complaining about our circumstances or the way we are as individuals, let us approach God in prayer and watch as His Spirit alters our lives and our situations!

Avoid Presumption...

Judges 11:29 – “Then the Spirit of the Lord was upon Jephthah…”

This is a truly interesting story. This story tells of Jephthah in Judges 11:29 - 40 and how he makes a very un-thoughtful vow unto the Lord. As he prepares to go to war, he tells God that if He will give him victory, he will sacrifice unto the Lord, the very first thing that comes out of his home to greet him when he returns from war. So Jephthah goes to war and the Lord gives him victory. Upon returning from war, his only daughter runs out to great him. Understandably, Jephthah regrets the vow he made to the Lord, yet because of his commitment, within the next 4 months, he keeps his word and sacrifices his daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord.

What a thought: the Sprit of the Lord was UPON Jephthah, and yet he made a foolish vow that to some degree ended in tragedy. How often does that happen to us? Maybe we read an awesome passage in scripture during a quiet time or in the midst of a worship service we get goose bumps from the presence of God. Upon these experiences in our excitement and zeal we begin to make commitments and promises to God that later we don’t follow through with because they were to hard, or we later realize that the promises we made were kind of foolish and we realize they weren’t from God, but because of our vows we feel obligated to walk them out and end up wasting time doing things God never intended us to do.

Jephthah’s passion and zeal to serve God were right. The Spirit of God was upon him stirring him to service! However, maybe the story would have had a differed ending if Jephthah would have “inquired of the Lord” on how to give Him worship? What if he would have waited on God to hear his voice and asked – how can I give you honor upon a victorious battle?

This is where we error so often. We just presume thoughts, ideas, and all opportunities are of God. We get excited in a moment of God’s presence and make commitments God may have never intended us to fulfill. What if we were more intentional to wait upon God and inquire of Him and listen to His voice? Maybe we would have less screw ups and calamities in our lives. If we were more intentional about being "presumptuous," maybe we would spend our time un-waisted and more fulfilled in doing things that the Lord truly intended us to do.