Unlimited ‘Access’ [v151]

SEPTEMBER 2011

Unlimited ‘Access’

If you are going to post something on your Facebook page or Twitter feed, you need a couple of things—a way to access the web site (i.e. a computer, ‘iPad’, or a phone), and the password for your account.

Now, for someone that has been in the computer industry for over 30 years, it’s been amazing to see that just within the past few years, users are primarily accessing the Internet—especially ‘social media’ like Facebook, Twitter, and the like—via a “Smartphone” (and in some countries, mobile phones are the only access to the Internet!). But, with this incredible surge in usage, there’s been some ‘restrictions’ imposed.

A while back, cell phone network providers, like AT&T, said that they were no longer going to offer “unlimited” data plans for Smartphones to access the Internet—that there would be monthly “usage caps” (and just recently, they have restricted that even more saying they would be “throttling data usage” for those who consume the most bandwidth (i.e. those streaming videos and such).


I get that these actions are an attempt to increase the performance of their network (and boost profits), but there are just times that I really need access to help—should I be ‘penalized’ for that?

Now, even if you have access to the Internet, you still need a password to get access to your account—and you will only be given access if you have the correct log-in.


The whole concept of the ‘password’ for access to something intrigues me—especially to ‘important’ people.

At least for me in the past, when I’ve tried to get to talk to a CEO/President of even a small company, I am not allowed by some “gate-keeper”—since I don’t have the right ‘password’ (i.e. being their spouse, son, daughter, or close colleague). Though I have not done this, I’m sure this would also happen if I tried to get ‘back stage’ access to a U2 or Michael W. Smith concert, jump into Michael Schumacher’s race car, or just start directing a film from Steven Spielberg’s chair. I don’t have the ‘level’ of access needed.

But, all that being said, I am absolutely confident that I have access to ‘Someone’ much more ‘important’ than those I listed above—and that’s the Creator of the Universe, the God of the Bible!


Now, I don’t say this ‘pridefully’, because ANYONE can have this ‘access’—Jesus offers this ‘UNLIMITED ACCESS’ to God the Father if you just ‘believe’ in Him! Then, when we put our trust in Him, our ‘salvation’ brings us unlimited ‘minutes’—that’s ETERNITY with God—and, in the here-and-now, you also get ‘total access’ to God! You don’t need a ‘go-between’, or have to ‘know someone’—you have a direct ‘link’ to God! (and there’s no ‘activation fee’). Salvation is a free gift bought and paid for you by Jesus Christ.

This is mentioned many places in the Bible. Romans 5:1-2 states, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

But, it gets even better! In Ephesians 3:11-12, the Apostle Paul says, “According to the eternal purpose which He [God] accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through faith in Him.” So, you can confidently and boldly, go to God in prayer because you have TOTAL ACCESS through the Jesus Christ!


Just try to wrap your mind around this: The Creator of the Universe WANTS to have an intimate relationship with YOU! He doesn’t want our interactions with Him to end with our ‘salvation’, He wants that to be the ‘beginning’!


To help you comprehend what ‘intimate’ with God looks like, let’s examine the writings of David, whom the Bible calls a “man after God’s own heart” [Acts 13:22].

Psalm 63:1-8 gives a vivid description of what a consuming passion for God is:

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.”


What strikes me the most in this passage is that we can develop this ‘intimacy’ with God through a fervent prayer life (Psalms were considered ‘prayers’), with the following aspects: A yearning; Awakened spiritual ‘senses’; New values and priorities; A new satisfaction and fulfillment; and a trust and dependence upon God.

Even though God is invisible and inaudible to our ‘physical’ senses, a close relationship with Him is cultivated the same way human friendships are—through time spent together, communication, vulnerability, and shared interests.

The ‘trouble’ is, sometime our prayers are often ‘monologues’ rather than ‘dialogues’. We come to God with our concerns, but many times we don’t take the time just to listen for His response. This is where the Bible comes in—it’s the primary ‘vehicle’ through which God ‘speaks’ to us. It’s just a different ‘kind’ of prayer—one that has to do with ‘interacting’ with the written Word and meditation on what we read. At least for me, the neat thing is, the more you ‘listen’ the more you will ‘hear’ His ‘voice’—and soon your time with God will become your greatest delight!


One day every believer will meet God. The question is, will He be a ‘stranger’ to you?

The greatest ‘investment’ we can make in this life—after choosing to follow Jesus—is a wholehearted pursuit of a deep personal relationship with God. The immediate earthly ‘rewards’ are greater than any ‘sacrifice’, but the treasure awaiting us in Heaven is beyond imagination!


Real prayer is ‘transformative’. When we humble ourselves before God, He can ‘align’ us with His Spirit, and enable us to receive what He’s providing to ‘reshape’ us. If we come to prayer with pride and condemnation in our hearts, we’ll remain absolutely unchanged. But, if we come honestly and humbly, seeking mercy, we’ll become unburdened and free to enjoy the Holy Spirit’s gracious ‘presence’ in our lives!

[ There have been a few times in my Christian life that, while in prayer for something ‘substantial’, I have been completely OVERWHELMED by a ‘peace’ about the problem, that I still, to this day, can’t ‘fully’ understand why the anxiety vanished! ].


Let me encourage you to choose that ‘unlimited minutes’, ‘total access’, and free ‘activation’ plan!

You can have UNLIMITED ACCESS to God, and He can be closer to you than your iPhone!


[ P.S.: If you would like to investigate further about what the Bible has to say about how you can communicate to God through prayer, visit the following link:

http://www.thesearchformeaning.net/sfm_pres/sp_q12_d4_1of10.html ].

[Excerpts from: Woodrow Kroll; Charles Stanley]

Blessings…Mark


LIFE’S DEEP THOUGHTS (v151) for SEPTEMBER 2011

If you have a ‘neat’ story or some thoughts about an issue or current event that you would like me to try to respond to, I would be glad to give it a try…so, send them to me at: mbesh@comcast.net

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“ACCESS TO GOD”
Years ago when I became paralyzed in a diving accident, my world was reduced to the basics. Hospitalized for almost two years, I did little more than eat and sleep. I had all the time in the world to ask questions of God.

Maybe I was being too philosophical. But most people weren’t faced with the larger-than-life questions that were plaguing me, like, “What is the meaning to life?” Haunted and hurting, I knew there had to be more to life than just existing.

That’s when I came face to face with the God of the Bible. I knew it was better to go to Him with my questions rather than shrug my shoulders and turn away. My time in the hospital was like one long question-and answer session.

The result is this booklet, “Access to God.” From my personal search I’ve shared my questions and the crystal-clear answers I received from God’s Word. Nothing written is trite—the questions and the Scriptures are straight from the heart.

I have no idea what your condition is, but if you’re like me, your limitations keep pushing you up against a spiritual wall. So as you read this account of our “Everyman with a disability,” I hope you, too, will find the God of the Bible to be the answer to your deepest longings.

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Because…

If you are paralyzed, you can still
walk with God.

If you are deaf, you are still able to
hear the Word of God.

If you are blind, you are nevertheless
able to see the Light.

And even if you are mentally handicapped,
you can have the Mind of Christ.

[Joni Eareckson Tada]

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WHEN WE WALKED TOGETHER
When we walked together
in the cool of the evening,
walked together, you and I,
in the cool of the evening,
after the heat of the day,
after the long hours under the sweating sun,
after the buzzing words like black flies
had at long last ceased their querulous stinging,
after the questions, after the answers
that refused at last to answer anything at all,
in the cool of the evening, when we walked
in the garden, you and I, in the cool of the evening.
When it was no longer important
for either of us to speak, since the words,
whatever words they might have been,
would have been beside the point,
would have said nothing our hearts
did not already know, where simply being there,
there in the cool of the evening
was all that finally mattered,
with the long night coming on, and the last trill
of birdsong fading off in the distance
by the ridge of the tree line,
when we walked together there in the garden,
in the cool of the evening, you and I.

[Paul Mariani]

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TEXT MESSAGING ABBREVIATIONS:

“P4U” – Praying for you
“P4M” – Pray for me
“PCT” – Prayer changes things
“NMP” – In my prayers
“ROHP” – Rest on His promises
“LAP” – Love and prayers
“GIIC” – God is in control
“><>” – Follower of Christ

[Dr. David Jeremiah]

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I DID SAY YES!
The barely prayable prayer as words fall away,
Words unguessed or unguessable, soft silence only,
Penetrant silence, the pit, then something stirring . . .
Importunate, unquenchable mind, astray
Or aswarm, attuned for odd moments after, then
Drifting. Then a lull & a lifting, then self flickering back,
As the parched sunflower turns toward the sun . . .
A woman kneels, head bent forward, each cell attendant
Upon the flame which, consuming, does not consume,
But gently enwrapts, caressing, filling her self with itself,
The burning clouds lingering, then hovering off, like
Mist off a mountain, here in this kitchen, this cell, here,
Where the timeless crosses with time, this chiasmus,
Infinity & now, nowhere & always, this cosmos, this fresh-
Found dimension, all attention gone over now, as flame
Flickers and whispers, all care turning to ash, all fear,
All consequence even, all given over, ah, lover to lover
Now, saying yes, yes, ah, thy will be done, my dear,
Yes echoing down the long halls of time, yes,
In spite of all disappointment, of the death of Love even,
The barely sayable yes again, yes again, yes I will. Yes.

[Paul Mariani]

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DEEP THOUGHT(s):

– Have you ever wondered” If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why isn’t it #1?

– Q: How do you know when you have run out of invisible ink?

– A college student was asked if he knew the difference between ignorance and apathy. He replied, “I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

[Dr. David Jeremiah]

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Hope you enjoyed some of these insights—share them with your friends and colleagues—so we can have a larger ‘pool’ to receive from, and more to share with! Also, remember to include your name as the “source,” if some of this wisdom is of your doing—I would like to give credit where credit is due!

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
[1 John 5:15-15]

Mark

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