Tag Archives: God’s Timing

God Knows Where You’re Going Even If You Don’t – Part Two

8 Sep

Continued from August 30

NOTHING BY ACCIDENT

. . . God prepares our way as we struggle day by day, putting one step in front of the other – sometimes not knowing where life is taking us.

As providence would have it, Ruth decided to go and work in the fields to glean the corn so that she and Naomi could eat. She just happened to select a field owned by a well known kinsman of Naomi’s husband named Boaz. One day Boaz saw Ruth gleaning in his field and asked the worker over his servants who she was. When the worker told Boaz it was Ruth, he had already heard what she had done for Naomi. She had proven herself as a notable woman in her deeds – everyone heard about it and then saw it. Boaz recognized that God had recompensed Ruth for all she had done for one of his own and saw that God was rewarding her and covering her with his protection.

Boaz gave instructions to his workers that they were to allow Ruth to continue to glean in his field. He even told them to drop extra corn so that Ruth might pick it up. He commanded them not to rebuke her or send her away. He also ordered them to watch over her and to keep her safe.
Boaz showed much kindness to Ruth for which she was very grateful.

One day, Ruth humbled herself and bowed low before him in thanks and asked him why she had found grace in his eyes. He told her that word had come to him about how she had devoted herself to her mother-in-law since her father-in-law’s death. He also knew she had left her father and her mother and her country to live in a land and people she knew nothing about. Boaz told Ruth that God wanted to repay her for these things and because she had put her trust in God and turned from pagan idols. Then, he told her that he wanted her to stay in his fields, close to his maidens. He wanted to make sure she was protected. This was God’s way of watching over her, again, unknown by Ruth.

When Ruth went home and told Naomi of the day’s events Naomi praised God and told Ruth that Boaz was a near relative who could redeem them. Naomi was a godly, perceptive woman. She wanted to find a home for Ruth and a husband. She wanted Ruth to prosper.

When the harvesting was finished, Boaz went among his workers to the threshing floor where they were winnowing the harvest. There was food and drink and celebrating.

Naomi told Ruth to bathe and perfume herself and change her clothes. She wanted her to put on her best clothes but not to look like a harlot. Naomi then instructed Ruth to go to the threshing floor where Boaz would be eating and drinking. She told Ruth to stay out of sight, not to let anyone see her, but to watch and see where Boaz slept. Ruth was to wait until he fell asleep and then go and lift the covers and lie down at his feet. Naomi told Ruth that Boaz would then tell her what to do. Ruth agreed to do everything Naomi told her.

Once again Ruth proves her courage her respect and complete trust in Naomi. Keep in mind that Ruth was from a foreign land. She knew nothing of the customs of Naomi’s people. God’s love continues to draw this young woman and continues to soften her heart. She was not an Israelite. She was a woman from another land. God had forbidden marriage to the pagan women there. It is even believed by some Bible scholars that Naomi’s sons died an early death because they married against God’s will.

This is an amazing act of God’s mercy and grace. God opens His arms to receive everyone. His love drew a pagan woman to Himself through one of His own. He then completely changed her through her hardships and made her into a virtuous woman, worthy of a good husband, a man of stature and wealth. Incredible!

The picture portrayed here is one of extreme proportions. To summarize, the two sons of Naomi sinned against God by taking foreign wives, forbidden women because of their heritage. Then, one of the very same women turned her heart over to God through her commitment and dedication to Naomi, one of God’s own people. God open the door for Ruth to marry into this godly family. How true it is that God’s ways are so much higher than ours!

To Be Continued . . .

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God Knows Where You’re Going Even If You Don’t!

30 Aug

(This is a re-print from May of last year).

Ruth didn’t know the God of Abraham or that she needed Him. God was working on other situations in the background that would eventually involve Ruth. She was completely unaware that God even existed and certainly didn’t know of God’s plans for her future. She was born into a pagan family, raised to worship idols. Ruth was doomed to a life headed for eternal destruction – unknown to her. A man named Elimelech came into Ruth’s life, by God’s providential will.

Elimelech lived in the promised land of God. A drought caused him to mortgage his land, leave his kinsmen, his friends and his country and move with his wife, Naomi and their two sons from Bethlehem to Moab. He was trying to provide for and protect them, but shortly after Elimelech moved his family to Moab he died, leaving Naomi and her sons alone in a strange land.

Naomi should have taken her sons and gone back to their homeland at that time. Instead she stayed in Moab and eventually her sons disobeyed God’s commands and married pagan women named Ruth and Orpah, who served idols. After only a few years of marriage, both young men died, leaving their mother, Naomi, and their heathen wives, Ruth and Orpah alone.

Naomi had lost everything except her two daughters-in-law. Since she had nothing left and did not know what difficulties she might face when she returned to her homeland of Judah, she prepared to leave Moab. Naomi called Ruth and Orpah to her side and encouraged them to return to their families. She was trying to protect the young women, but neither of them wanted to leave her. It was evident that Naomi was very loving and kind and that Ruth and Orpah must have experienced and learned of the love of God through her and through their husbands.

It’s hard to imagine a daughter-in-law loving her mother-in-law so much that she would be willing to leave all she knew, including her own mother and other family members. Ruth was so drawn by God’s love through Naomi that she hungered for more. She knew that she would not find that same love from her people.

This is a beautiful portrayal about how the love of God draws men to Himself. The love of Jesus shines through God’s children and draws others to Him. Their hearts begin to yearn for Him. They want to give up everything else to follow Him.

Ruth had experienced a taste of God’s love through Naomi and did not want to go back to her old life. On the other hand, Orpah had the same opportunity. She loved Naomi. She struggled with letting go, but Orpah wasn’t willing to give up her old life or leave her idols and the sinful ways of her people. She could not let go. Her flesh had a strong hold on her.

We can identify with Orpah. She was not unlike us. She loved her family – Moab was all she knew. It was comfortable to Orpah. It was familiar. Although she was torn in her decision, she was unable to let go of her past. She couldn’t step into the unknown. Orpah made a wrong choice. It was a choice that more than likely condemned her. But the choice was hers. We can identify with why she did it. We face hard decisions every day. Will we go with God or go back to what is comfortable?

Letting go of all we are familiar with – stepping into the unknown – that is what faith is.

• Heb 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. NIV

This story is continued – Check back in a few days to see what God had in store for Ruth. Remember, she doesn’t yet know God – she doesn’t know she is actually right in the middle of His will for her life.

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The Rewards of Obedience vs. The Cost of Disobedience

18 May

Obedience Or Rebellion?

1 Sam 15:22-23   22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you from being king.” NLT

As God’s children we want to please Him. Our inner struggle is constant though it might not be prominent. There is a undurcurrent within us that we have become accustomed to. I don’t believe it is because we are bad or purposely rebellious. With me it’s more about sometimes not knowing for sure what the right thing is. Of course, many times it is very obvious what is right and what is wrong, but I want to speak to what is buried deep within our hearts at the root of our reasoning.

I have always been a confident person in most areas of my life. Even as a child I was compliant – always wanting to do the right things. To rebel was not in my nature, at least not to the point of being defiant. When I faced decisions that I believed were wrong, I somehow just couldn’t force myself to comply. In the few times I did, I was in constant turmoil until the situation was terminated.

As I am reaching the winter of my life I can see that even though I was unaware of it, God had a plan for me. (He also has one for you!) Here is proof in a few of my favorite Scriptures from Psalms 139, written by King David:

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise;you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down;you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. . .

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;your works are wonderful,I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body.All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me,and lead me in the way everlasting.  NIV

Notice starting with verse 13 that God created our inmost being – His eyes saw our unformed body and all our days were ordained for us before one of them came to be! Selah – Pause and calmly think of that.

None of us are here by accident. God made us – He created us with a purpose and He knew today, right now, what you and I would be doing at this very moment. – No words can express the emotion for knowing that.

The Rewards of Obedience

It takes us a while to realize there is more to life that “me.” Seriously? It is human nature from the moment we are born into this world. We spend a lifetime struggling with ourselves vs. the good and the bad.

Recently I had an assignment from God. You might ask “How can you be sure it was from God?” I know because He instructed me clearly to do something I have said at least a million times that I would not do! The interesting thing is that He won’t force me to do it. It won’t even hurt me NOT to do it. In fact, it would be easier for me NOT to do it. After all, I could just chalk it up to “not being sure it was God.” Or, I could just stop thinking about it and move on.

Well, I don’t know about you, but God won’t allow me to do that. It’s that deep, small voice that continually woos me. I can make it go away – at least for a little while. Then, I sense it wooing me again. I then begin to get deliberate in praying about it to make sure I haven’t imagined the entire thing.

God is so good about giving us little sign posts along our journey. If we aren’t sensitive to the Spirit we might not recognize them. We might think “It’s only a coincidence.” God gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us and to counsel us and to lead us into truth. We have the choice as to whether we listen and follow His instruction or to just ignore it until it goes away.

God’s Instruction to Me

That brings me to my main point – My obedience to that still, small voice could be a life changing event for a child of God who is seeking desperately to find a solution to a great problem. My attitude, though I didn’t realize it was wrong, kept me from even considering offering my help. The reason? – I didn’t want to get involved. It was all about me and the price I wasn’t willing to pay to obey God. It wouldn’t really have hurt me, except that I would disappoint God by my disobedience.

No, that’s really not all my disobedience would do. God made it clear to me that to be disobedient could rob someone of a complete change in their life – a life free from hell on earth. I know it sounds drastic. In fact, it is.

Could someone else do it? I don’t know. That’s not the issue. The issue is will I choose to obey or not? Maybe I am the only person that could help. The consequences of my disobedience could be amazingly wonderful or disastrously terrible.

Think about that for a moment. I did. It kept me awake all night asking God if He was really asking me to do something I was adamantly opposed to doing. I’ve missed God before. Not always on purpose but because I am always still evolving (really). I’ve also missed Him out of ignorance of the Scripture or misunderstanding. Sometimes I’m just rebellious. Ugh! It’s hard to even say.

I learned from Charles Stanley that when God is speaking to you and you are struggling with what you think He is saying to you that peace will eventually develop and you will know God is leading you. If that peace does not develop, I call that a “red flag.” There isn’t a deadline that God can’t push back or overcome. Don’t look at the deadlines – look to the God who created you and made you for this day.

Send Me – Yes, No or Maybe?

God was searching for someone to send to His people and Isaiah said:

Isa 6:8  8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me !”
NIV

Have you ever said that? I have, however: I recently discovered that many times my “send me” reply is conditional on  my terms. Goodness! God really has a way to slap us on the wrist, doesn’t He?

I’m hoping you can see that our minds and hearts are so full of the busyness of the world that God’s voice doesn’t always make through to our hearts. It isn’t His fault. It has to do with the condition of our hearts and our natural instinct to rebel. Sorry to have to say it.

The Final Outcome

After struggling with myself and trying to determine whether I had simply lost my resolve or if God was actually trying to get through to me, peace began to develop. Let me add, the peace was in my spirit, not in my head. My mind was spinning with many doubts and questions and concerns about something I had been claiming as impossible for me to do for many years.

But, when I opened my heart and let God – He began to use His sweet Holy Spirit to speak to me in His ways by speaking to me of How Jesus would handle the situation and my purpose for being one of His disciples.

The Future? – What does it hold for this situation? – I don’t know. It’s a little scary. But I know the Creator of the Universe. He made me – formed me from a tiny seed planted within my Mother. He had a plan 69 years ago for what I would do this very day. He’s the One I look to, not the situation I dread. Do I have a plan? No. Do I know what the outcome will be or what will happen along the way? No. Am I nuts? – I’m not sure, but I don’t think so.

God has proved Himself to me over and over and over. As I heard from Sunday’s message by Pastor Scott Jones at Grace Church, not all of the amazing miracles and things Jesus did while He was on earth were recorded. I can identify with that because my Father God – My Friend, Jesus – and the Sweet Holy Spirit – are constantly present in my life doing things for me that are too many to count.

He is trustworthy – are you?

 

 

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God Speaks (Part 1)

9 Nov

D0Ib5j36RymFSNPX5X1m_darkoceanGod Speaks

One critical point to understanding and experiencing God is knowing clearly when God is speaking. If a Christian does not know when God is speaking, he is in trouble at the heart of his Christian life!

God speaks through the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. He also speaks through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church or other believers.

Many Different Ways

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets and in other various ways (Heb. 1:1)

One truth that is evident throughout the Bible is that God speaks to His people. In the Old Testament, God spoke through:

Angels
Visions
Dreams
The use of the Urim and Thummin
Symbolic Actions
A Gentle Whisper
Miraculous Signs
And Others

How God spoke in the Old Testament is not the most important factor. The fact THAT He spoke is the crucial point. Those He spoke to KNEW it was God, and they KNEW what He was saying.

2 Tim 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.  NKJV

The pattern in Scripture is that God may not tell you all you need to know in the beginning but He will tell you what you need to know to make necessary adjustments and to take the first step of obedience. What is your part?  – To Wait until the Master gives you instructions. That can be really hard because we want to make things  happen.

If you start DOING before you have direction from God, more than likely you will be wrong.  Bible examples: Noah knew the size, type of materials, and how to put the ark together.  When God told Moses about building the tabernacle, He was very specific about the details. When God called Abraham and said, “Go to the land I will show you” – that was not very specific. That required faith. But God said, “I will show you”. God always gives you enough specific instructions to do NOW what He wants you to do.

When you need more directions, He gives you more in His timing. If you do not have specific instructions from God in a matter, pray and wait.  Learn patience. Depend on God’s timing. His timing is always right and best. Don’t get in a hurry. Don’t skip over the relationship to get on with the doing. When we understand spiritual truth, it is because the Holy Spirit is working in our lives..

When we move from the Gospels to Acts and to the present, we quite often change our whole mind-set. We live as if God quit speaking personally to His people. We fail to realize that an encounter with the Holy Spirit is an encounter with God. God clearly spoke to His people in Acts. He clearly speaks to His people today. From Acts to the present, God has been speaking to His people by the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual truths can only be revealed by God. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him’ – but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God . . . No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” I Cor. 2:9-12

Jesus said the Holy Spirit  “Will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26

You never discover truth – truth is revealed.  The Holy Spirit reveals truth to you, He knows you personally and He knows how to speak to you so that you understand.

Mos of this was an excerpt from Henry Blackaby’s book “Experiencing God.” I highly recommend it.

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We Are Becoming. . .

16 Jun

Yesterday at Church, God spoke to me through several statements made by the Pastor. One that gave me great comfort was that I am “becoming” – what God wants me to be. I was especially moved by that statement because for so much of my life I have felt as though I am not all God wants me to be. Sunday’s message jolted me out of a life-long belief that I am not doing enough to be all that God wants me to be! Of course not – I am becoming that person. It takes a lifetime. Wow! That is good news!

Sadly, some of us feel that we have arrived – meaning we have reached our destination. We feel we have earned the right to shut out everything that we don’t want to be bothered with. The truth is we never truly “arrive,” as the saying goes.

I’ve lived a good, long life, but I have not arrived. When I finish my work on this earth and depart for my life in eternity, I will have arrived in heaven. I will then still have eternity before me. I am becoming (growing, advancing, maturing). . .  I will never arrive! Awesome! I love that. What pressure it takes off me.

The majority of my life has been spent wanting to hurry up and get from point “A” to point “Z,” meaning – I didn’t enjoy a lot of the journey. I see more clearly now – it is about the journey – about becoming. I don’t have to get everything right all at one time. I get so frustrated with myself for not being all I should be (what I think I should be). God isn’t the one putting the pressure on me – I am the one putting the pressure on me! Jesus said:

  •  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30 NIV

I don’t want to use the fact that I am becoming as an excuse for being lax in the things I do. What I do want is to be a little kinder to myself and to remember Jesus told me clearly to come to Him to find the rest I need. He reminds me in Matthew 11 that He is gentle and humble in heart. He isn’t the one driving me and pusing me to the point of frustration and exhaustion. I am the one doing that. All He is asking of me is that I become the person He has destined me to be. I can do that with His help.

 

 

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Deadlines – God Hasn’t Forgotten Your Address

25 Apr

God isn’t frustrated and moved that we have deadlines to face or threats against us for one thing or another. He does love us – even more than we can imagine. He wants what is best for us at all times. He knows we are not perfect and that we get ahead of Him sometimes – many times. Not only do we get ahead of Him, we go off in a totally different area than He wants.

We are the ones who think part of God’s duty to us is to make us happy. We are the ones that believe that if we miss a deadline, that is, if God doesn’t come through for us on or before that deadline – we’re done. It’s too late.  We have to understand that God is for us, so who can be against us?

  • Rom 8:31-32   31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us , who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? NIV

The Bible, God’s Word, His “Instruction Manual”,  holds the answers for us. It is simple, yet we are responsible for taking the necessary time to read and pray in order that we might stay on target. Our relationship with God is a lifetime commitment. Actually, it’s beyond a lifetime. It is throughout eternity. God doesn’t get in a hurry. We’ve all kind of figured that out.

Our part is to seek God, continually,to acknowledge Him in all things. Clearly, we are told from Scripture that if we acknowledge Him in all things, He will make our paths straight. He tells us not to give in to our own understanding. God is never, ever, late. He is always just in time. If a deadline is approaching and God hasn’t given clear direction, I do nothing. I wait. God is well able to work beyond the limits of deadlines. He wants our trust.  Meeting a deadline just for the sake of meeting the deadline sometimes really gets us in a mess.  If God has given direction and we are afraid – that’s different. Either way, it still means we don’t trust God.

  • Prov 3:5-6   5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  NIV

God knows what is beyond the deadline, we don’t. We must develop our relationship with Him to the point that we are certain we know Him and we recognize His voice. The only way to do it is to spend time with Him, praying and reading His Word. How else can we identify the many different “voices” we hear coming from within?

God can be trusted. He knows our address. He hasn’t forgotten us. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to acknowledge Him in all things. If we can do that, we can eliminate so much of the stress we face each day. Taking matters into our own hands may satisfy us for the moment. It may even last a little while. But, eventually, if God was not in the task or the decision, time has been wasted and we can find ourselves in an even more difficult situation.

It’s hard for us to tell ourselves, “no,” because we want what we want when we want it. We go so far as to think that we have the option of letting God know when we need Him and when we don’t. It doesn’t work that way. God is with us every moment if we belong to Him. Nothing is too insignificant that we can’t take it to Him. He will make it plain if He wants us to wait, or if the answer is just plain, “No”. He does it by putting a big “red flag” inside, an uncomfortable feeling that won’t go away. If that happens, there is a reason that God wants us to be still and call upon Him. He wants only the best for us and He wants to keep us from danger.

  • Jer 29:11-14   11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” NIV

Do we really believe His way is best? Or, are we guilty of just calling on Him when it’s convenient for us? He hasn’t forgotten where we live. He sees every struggle. He has a plan. Our part is just to trust Him and wait for His timing.

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Which Way?

24 Feb

In Seeking God’s Will – Paul was an apostle, yet he did not always know the direction God wanted him to take. He took steps, God closed doors, so he waited; and then God showed him the way.  Acts: 6-10 (Everyday Essential Bible Commentary)

We can all relate to this. The problem is sometimes we don’t take steps and/or we don’t wait. I heard our Pastor say “Don’t kick in a door that God may not want opened.”  Some doors need to remain closed. It’s hard for us not to go by what we see. And, in today’s world, we are accustomed to “instant everything”.

God is definitely not behind the times. Yet, He still doesn’t get in a hurry. Some things just cannot be rushed. God’s will should always be foremost in our hearts. That being said, let us not get ahead of God and take matters into our own hands. If we do, we may then be praying for God to rescue us!

Waiting is not easy for most of us. We have so many resources at our fingertips that we sometimes jump off the cliff and then scream out for God to save us on the way down. Selah, pause and calmly think of that.

As hard as it may be to accept, God isn’t as interested in our happiness as He is in our spiritual growth and relationship with  Him. Waiting is a virtue that we may as well adjust to if we truly want God’s best in our lives. God gives the very best to those who wait for Him! If you don’t wait for a cake to be baked – well, you get the picture.

The world moves so quickly around us. At times it just seems like God takes too long! But, friends, God is smarter than we are. He has the advantage of knowing what is ahead of us. He knows just the very moment we should take our next step.

Don’t settle for second best.  His timing is not always the same as yours.  Trust God and follow peace. If a deadline comes and goes, God has a better way. Wait until you have peace within – then take the step God has ordained.  That is the way to walk in God’s perfect will for your life.

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Elephant? What Elephant?

20 Dec

Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate) Faithwriters Challenge
Topic: Elephant in the Room (12/05/13) –  Highly Commended – Top 5 Award

There is an elephant in the room. What, you don’t see it? Oh, you see it but you prefer to ignore it. That’s typical. Confrontation is something most of us don’t like.

It’s easier to pretend all is well. Besides, confronting the elephant could mean we might get stomped on or at the very least come out bruised and scarred. Easier just to look the other way.

What would God have us do in this kind of situation? Confrontation doesn’t necessarily mean attacking someone or condemning them. Nor does it mean controlling a situation to gain power and have it our way.

Keep in mind that Scripture tells us to avoid strife. So, confronting the elephant in the room isn’t a license to attack. Proverbs tells us that a fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. Wow! That says a lot. Further we are told that a fool’s mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul. Therefore, we are to avoid strife.

Hummmm. What does that leave us? We are taught by Jesus, that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Is it possible to face an elephant with those attributes? There is a simple answer to this question. If you can’t, then don’t. Recognizing an elephant in the room doesn’t always mean overt action is called for. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart, your soul and your mind and then to love your neighbor as yourself.

Prayer is the first step. Seek God for the answer to this dilemma. Don’t get in a hurry to come face to face with that elephant! Pray for guidance. Pray for God’s timing. Pray that God create circumstances that open a door to the situation and give you the wisdom to speak into the situation in a way you can be helpful without condemnation or judgment.

It is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to do the convicting and the teaching. So, prayer is first. If God has a part for you to play in the situation He will make it clear and the timing will be right.

God doesn’t get in a hurry. Neither should we. Leave the elephant alone unless God directs you otherwise. Keep the Scriptures mentioned in mind to avoid costly circumstances.

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God Speaks Through Internal Peace

9 Nov

When God speaks to our hearts, He gives us a deep sense of internal peace to confirm the message is truly from Him. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Don’t let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27

When the deceiver speaks to us, he cannot give us peace in our hearts. We might experience peace, emotionally, but emotional peace won’t last. Only spiritual peace will last. When we try to solve things with our own reasoning, we cannot experience lasting internal peace. “The mind of the flesh (which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit) is death (death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter). But the mind of the Holy Spirit is life and peace (both now and forever). Romans 8:6

One of my Mother’s favorite expressions was “follow peace”. God’s Spirit lives within us if we are born-again believers. One of His gifts to us is His peace if we are following His will. If not, that peace becomes disturbed. There is a fine line within us about recognizing God’s peace. We may have hardened our hearts to God’s Spirit. In other words, we may have trained ourselves to ignore that still small voice within us by giving way to the comfort of the flesh (our bodies) or our emotions (our souls).

Ignoring the peace within our Spirits to follow the peace within our souls (our emotions) can be very dangerous. The Scriptures tell us that our hearts are deceitful and that we don’t even know how deceitful. That is why we need the Holy Spirit within us to be our guide. Some of us have become accustomed to selective hearing and obedience. God didn’t intend for us to live like that. We must be deliberate about listening for the Holy Spirit and in walking in obedience. Our commitment to God should be deliberate and constant. We are to “acknowledge God in all things”. This indicates that we don’t sail along doing things our way and stopping to ask God when we feel like it. To walk in this way is like walking on a slippery slope.

If we want a true and real relationship with our Father, God then we must yield to Him in everything. He isn’t just a “Sunday morning God”. He is a “24/7/365” God. He lives IN us. He is WITH us at all times. Sometimes we feel like God doesn’t keep up with us. We get in a hurry and don’t take the time to ask Him about things that concern us. The truth is we are the ones not keeping up with God! We like things done in our time and in our way. God just takes too long sometimes – most of the time. So, we think we just don’t have time to ask Him about it.

I would go so far as to say that I believe that many of our problems would go away if we would take the time to wait for God’s direction. That being said, know that there are times when God directs and things still seem to go wrong. Recognize that when this happens God did not call us to a life free from difficulty and hardship. But He IS there to walk us through those things. To walk through them on our own is possible but with much more turmoil. When we are yielding to God, we can keep our peace and know that we can trust Him to guide us to our destination, shielding us from anything not acceptable to Him.

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God Is Not Like Grandma, He’s Not Old Fashioned or Behind the Times!

7 Jun

Many of us don’t think much about the spiritual side of things. We believe we have our lives under control and we are ready for what comes our way. Conversely, we are experiencing more and more stress and frustration. We have been taught by the world around us that we need to be strong. We dare not let anyone see us as weak.

Perhaps our spiritual condition doesn’t seem like much of an issue. Some of us may even think that our spiritual lives are separate from our daily lives. Definitely not! We may try to keep it separate thinking it isn’t part of daily living. Besides, it’s not cool to be spiritual. Exactly the opposite is true. Our spiritual condition (our heart of hearts) is where our true character resides.

• Prov 16:9 “ In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” NIV

• Matt 15:18-20 “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart , and these make a man ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.” NIV

The ways of God obviously are not the ways of man. If man had his way there would certainly be no suffering. It is imperative that we realize how much we need God every day with every step. We could not take another breath, or another step if He did not allow it. Whether we believe it to be true or not doesn’t matter. Our denial of God’s truth doesn’t invalidate it.

God is always with us, not just for our bedtime prayers, but as we get dressed, eat breakfast, drive to work, and in all else that we do. We can talk with Him at any time about any and every issue. It’s kind of like being at home with a loved one. We are busy in one room and they are busy in another. We know that we can call out to them at any time and they will answer. Only God is not in the other room, He is right with us – wherever we are.

Our conversations with God are not one way. He will speak to our hearts. He will take away our fears and direct us through our every concern, if we will allow Him to.

• John 10:26-27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” NIV

God has His own time-table. It most often does not agree with ours. He is not intimidated by our deadlines. Don’t think that just because He does not work like the high-speed internet that He is old-fashioned and out of date. To the contrary, His ways far exceed that. He created the universe out of nothing. He knew us before we were formed in our Mothers’ wombs. He can handle today’s technology. God is actually the one who gave knowledge to the creators of our technology. What? You think they did it on their own?

Scripture tells us that there is nothing new in the world. Technology was part of God’s plan from the beginning. Don’t think for a moment that we have moved on without Him. No, Friends, He is the one who made it all possible. He is not just our Grandma’s God. God’s miracles and ancient stories of the Bible didn’t stop when the Bible was made into a book with a cover. God is the reason we have progressed to where we are today.

• Eccl 1:9 “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” NIV

His ways are not outdated. He is the author and finisher or our faith and the reason that we are who we are. We need to recognize His authority. When we read the Scriptures we will find that events do not just happen on their own. God is the force behind them. He places people where He wants them and uses them according to His plan.

God’s Word, the Holy Bible, still operates in our lives as it did in the lives of those ancient men and women of the Bible. They are not fictional like Winnie the Pooh or Alice in Wonderland. Rest assured you will not meet those characters in heaven one day. However; you will meet many of those ancient men and women of the Bible there. You will hear from their own lips of their awesome adventures.

God is just as real today as He was when all the events of the Bible took place. He walks with us, covers us like a shield. He goes before us, behind us, beside us. We cannot go anywhere that He is not there.

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