Tag Archives: God’s will

July 30 – And We Will Be Saved

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2 Kings 18:9-19-37; Psalms 46, 80, 135

O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people? (Psalm 80:4)

The psalmist goes on to say that God’s people have experienced hardship and grief, they’ve become objects of contention to their neighbors, and laughed at by their enemies. Then the psalmist says,

O God of hosts, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. (verse 7, emphasis mine)

Do my prayers anger God? Do I pray out of selfishness, or pride, greed, or laziness? I am reminded of the great responsibility we who are God’s children have. If we want our nation, and our world saved – we’d better learn to pray.

July 21 – Blast Off!

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2 Kings 18:1-8; 2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalm 48

Hezekiah was a busy man. He was 25 when he became king of Judah and it seems like he hit the ground running. He did some repairs on the temple, removed the evidence of idol worship (including the bronze serpant Moses had made to help the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt years earlier). Hezekiah directed the priests and Levites to consecrate themselves, and he organized a Passover feast like the Jews hadn’t seen in a very long time.

What I noticed today was that his enthusiasm for doing God’s work was contagious. In fact, after inviting Jews from near and far to the Passover celebration, the turnout was much more than the number of consecrated priests could handle. And the shear enthusiasm of the masses was an embarrassment to the priests and Levites who’d been caught unprepared. So they cleaned up their act and got onboard.

I’m thinking God might be saying we who sit in pews every Sunday need not wait for our pastors to start a revival. Maybe we shouldn’t be waiting for some preachers out there to start preaching the Truth of Scripture. Maybe it’s us everyday people who need to get right with God, and take the bull by the horns.

Let the preachers follow our lead for a change, when we our lead by God.

Is your commitment to God contagious? Is mine? How exciting would it be for us to see that fire ignite. It could be as powerful as watching a launch from Cape Canaveral.

Ignition! Blast Off! Souls won. Lives changed. Eternity won!

June 24 – The Best Advice

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2 Chronicles 10-12

Rehoboam wasn’t a child when he became king, but he did a very childish thing. Instead of listening to the sound advice of the elders, he listened to the foolishness of his buddies. He established himself as a hard, ego-maniac leader. “Don’t mess with me,” he seems to have said to the people who were working for him.

We all need advice once in a while. I’m thinking of selling my home and I can use all the good advice I can get. But there is all kinds of advice out there. How do you discern the good from the bad?

I believe the Bible is full of good advice. In Scripture we see example after example of what happens when God’s people go to Him before doing anything. When they take time to pray, to seek His face, they are blessed.

It’s when they go it on their own or listen to the advice of others who have not gone to God first, that trouble follows.

I want to know God’s will. So before I talk to a realtor, I’ll talk to God. Before I go talk to the bank, I’ll spend time in God’s Word. I’ll ask my Christian friends to pray for me. And I’ll be careful not to try to push open doors God closes.

If you want my advice, you’ll do the same before you make a decision of any kind.

March 26 – God’s Sovereignty

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Joshua 12-15

Caleb went to Joshua and reminded him that 45 years earlier, Moses had promised him a certain portion of the Promised Land. Now Joshua was assigning property to the Jews, and Caleb wanted to be sure Joshua gave him the land Moses had promised. So Joshua assigned Caleb that land.

Later, Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, asked her dad for springs of water to go with the land in the Negev he had already given her and her husband. Caleb gave her the springs.

These days, with the election coming, and with such unrest in our country and the world, I often hear it said, “God is Sovereign.” Many people seem to believe that means God will put whoever He wants in the White House, that He is exacting punishment on the world by causing some people to be suicide bombers. Some seem to take the attitude that we might as well sit back and let God do His thing because, after all, He is Sovereign.

But I don’t think that means God is up there playing a game of chess with our lives.

Would Joshua have remembered Moses’ promise to Caleb had Caleb not reminded him? Would Caleb have thought to include springs of water with the land he gave his daughter had she not asked? Would the Israelites have received the Promised Land had they not fought for it?

We won’t know the answers to those questions because Scripture tells us what actually happened. Had the requests not been made or the wars not fought we would be reading a different account.

Yes, God is absolutely, without question, Sovereign. He is the Supreme Ruler. He is the ultimate Power. But God has also chosen to exist in time while we are on earth.

Actually, He’s already at the end of time, too. He’s already returned for His own in the realm of eternity. We just haven’t experienced it yet, trapped in minutes and seconds.

The Bible tells us over and over how important our choices are. Why would our choices make any difference if God was “in control?”

Does God have a will concerning who occupies the White House the next four years? I am certain He knows who will be our next president. It will be the person who gets the most votes, and voting is a choice each of us must make.

I think God’s will is for Christians to fight for our land. He wills that we choose morality, obedience, and that we make our voices heard. I think His will is that we vote and make our position known. I think His will is that we take action and not sit back and assume He’s going to do it all.

If we sit at home and think that, because God is Sovereign, His will will be done with or without us, we are sadly mistaken. There are dozens of examples in the Bible where God wanted to bless His children but could not because of their choices. More than once He “gave them over” to their choices. And those times certainly couldn’t be described as His will for them.

I know that God is in control. I know He knows the end from the beginning. I know that He knows when life on earth will end. He is Sovereign.

But God’s Sovereignty does not let us off the hook. God knows what will happen if Christians stand up for themselves like Caleb and Achsah did, like Israel did when they fought for the land.

But He also knows what will happen if we don’t.

That chapter hasn’t been written yet in the realm of time. Our choices will make the difference. Yes, God knows what we are going to choose. But He wants us to choose Him. That’s His will. Everything else will fall into place, if we choose God.

Dear Sovereign God, it is comforting to know that You are who You say You are. You are all powerful, all knowing, ever present. But You, in your wisdom have given us the ability to make choices. And those choices, according to Your will for Your creation, determine life on this planet. I pray that Your children will choose You, that we will intentionally put on Your armor, that we will purposefully choose to obey You, and that we won’t just sit back and assume You are going to do a great work in spite of us. May we not give up, thinking there is nothing we can do to change the tide. You can and do great things when we choose to be vessels through which You accomplish Your will. May You find us choosing to be faithful.

 

Feb 27 -Decisions! Decisions!

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Numbers 8-10

How do you go about making decisions? I know some people who think about a situation to death, then never decide. I have been known to jump at a decision depending on how I feel at the moment. Both extremes are cause for regret.

We can learn decisions-making skills from Moses. In chapter 9, when some men posed a request concerning Passover, Moses replied, “Wait, and I will listen to what the LORD will command concerning you.” (vs 8)

The entire nation of Israel followed God’s lead every step they took on their journey to the Promised Land. If the cloud moved, they moved. If it stopped, they stopped.

So how does that translate into life in 2016? God doesn’t speak audibly, nor does He exist in a cloud. But He does communicate through His Word, He nudges us while we pray. His voice might sound like your friends’ voice while you are sitting together over coffee.

The idea for this blog came to me during my daily Bible and journalling time in December of 2012. At first it was a fleeting thought, and it was an idea that I quickly disregarded. But God had planted a seed, and the thought came again and again as I read His Word. I even found myself thinking about it during the day, so I began to pray about it. First I told God why I thought it was a bad idea. Eventually, I prayed that if this is something He wanted me to do, I’d let the outcome up to Him.

I think, according to what I read this morning in Numbers, that’s how God would like us to make our decisions. I am reminded God WANTS me to succeed in the tasks He gives me. He WANTS what’s best for me. He WANTS to use me to share Him with others.

I wish I could say I make all my decisions following this example. I’m a work in progress. And I have no idea who, if any, have been blessed or challenged by this blog over the years. That’s totally in God’s hands. I just know, for myself, I followed His lead.

I am challenged this morning to go to God first when faced with a decision. Moses said, Wait. I need to lean how to do that better. Moses went to God. I need to be reminded that no decision is too small for God to have an opinion. And I need to be obedient when He begins to move.

Where He leads me I will follow. That’s my decision.

Jan 17 -Knowing God’s Will

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I wonder what life would be like today if Abraham hadn’t tried to lend God a hand? Abraham and Sarah, well past child-bearing years, decided on their own to have Hagar give Abraham a son. After all, God promised Abraham he’d be a father. God hadn’t said anything about Sarah.

Enter Ishmael, the father of Muslims.

Someone has said it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. That may be so, but “sorry” doesn’t change the outcome. And consequences can be far reaching.

If you think God is telling you to do something, you had better be praying and reading His Word where you will find direction. God won’t tell you to do something that contradicts what He inspired men to write there.

Whatever you do, don’t go on how you are feeling, or what you think makes sense. Don’t make Abraham’s mistake and go on your own. Ask someone to pray with you.

God is able to do what He says. Let Him open doors or close them. But don’t take that step of faith without knowing His heart through prayer and reading the Bible.

And if you feel a tug at your heart, pay attention. It just might be God holding you back until He is ready. Our Father wants you to know His will. Let Him show you.

Border Wars

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I have to admit I don’t know Middle-Eastern geography. I am not familiar with nations and cities on today’s maps, much less those in Old Testament times. So when Joshua is naming territories that were given to the Jews to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham, my eyes glaze over. Not only do I not know where these places are (or were), the names of these places are hard to pronounce.

What can God possibly say to me through this geography lesson?

One word kept repeating itself as I read Joshua 15 and 16 this morning: borders. The Jews were given the Promised Land, but it didn’t come without clear borders. Those borders were necessary to separate the people of God from everyone else. The Jews were to live inside the borders. The enemy’s influence was to stay on the other side of those borders.

Do we have borders as 21st Century children of God, living in the blessed Promised Land of fellowship with God? Let me share just a few borders God has laid on my heart:

Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Be holy as I am holy.

Resist the devil.

Flee youthful lusts.

Pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks.

Preach the Gospel.

Confess sin.

Present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God.

Study to show ourselves approved of God.

Now, none of these will earn us favor in God’s eye. None of these will buy our salvation. The privilege of living in the Promised Land is a gift of God, it’s ours by the grace of God, it was bought by the blood of Jesus, the only way to the Father. No, these borders can’t allow us to get around the cross. But living within these borders is amazing, like living in a land flowing with milk and honey.

These borders, like the borders Joshua spelled out for Israel, separate us from the rest of the world. It’s within these borders we find fellowship with God himself, life and peace, and help in our time of need.

But there is a war on our soul. Satan wants to tear down the walls, blur the line, enlarge our borders by telling us lies like: God wouldn’t send a good person to hell, there are multiple paths to God, there are big sins and little sins and little sins are overlooked by God, you are ok just the way you are, laughing at sin on TV or neglecting study of God’s Word or keeping your faith to yourself is no biggie, intelligent men and women reject the Bible as inerrant.

I am challenged to guard my borders. The walls around my heart can’t be too high, my resolve can’t be too strong, my dependance on God can’t be too complete. I want to live within the borders God has given us in his Word. There is nothing outside those lines that can compare.

Father in Heaven, thank you for lovingly identifying the borders. Thank you for providing peace and joy and comfort and blessing to those of us who walk inside those borders. Forgive us when we fall for Satan’s tactics to blur the lines, to step outside your perfect will. I pray for your people today. May we let you identify the borders as we read and study your Word, and may we be willing to fight to keep those borders secure. This is war. You give us the victory. Thank you. 

Did You Break Your Arm?

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My sisters and I were raised not to expect someone to do something for us that we could do ourselves. If Dad heard one of us ask a sister to get us a drink of water, for example, he’d say “Are your legs broken?” or “Did you break your arm?” So when I read in Numbers 11 about Moses complaining to God and doubting his instructions, I laughed when God said, “Has my arm lost its power?” Made me think of my dad.

God had asked Moses to do something and wanted Moses to know God was able to accomplish great things through him. God had done great things before and he had the power to continue to do great things on behalf of his people.

I think the lesson here is – do we trust God? When he asks us to do something, he doesn’t expect us to do it alone. If he asks, he’ll be right there. Like in my childhood example. If God was asking me to get him the drink of water, he would lift me up and carry me to the faucet if I was willing to obey.

So the question isn’t, are my arms broken. The question is do I trust God’s arms? If he asks us to do something in his name, he’ll be the power behind it when we obey.

God, I pray for your people today. You will ask us to do things. You will prompt us to speak to someone about you, to help a person in need, to give sacrificially of our time and money. I pray that when you do, you will find us trusting you to provide the power we need to get the job done. May you find us faithful and willing to serve. Thank you for promising to be with us as we do.

Impossible

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Numbers 2&3 record God’s instructions to Moses about getting the Israelites organized and ready to get traveling to the  Promised Land. About a million people, including crying babies, rebellious teenagers, pregnant moms and feeble grandparents along with livestock, tents, and everything they owned were about to pack up and move.

There isn’t a fraction of that many people here on this tiny island where I live and I can’t imagine trying to organize everyone enough to get them all to travel across the bridge to the mainland, even in this day of internet, cellphones and SUV’s. It seems like an impossible task.

But Moses was faithful. He followed God’s instructions and the impossible was accomplished. The entire nation of Israel was divided by family, got in line, and prepared to take those first steps toward a destination they had never seen. 

Is there something God is asking of me? Do I blow it off because I think it’s impossible? Maybe he’s prompting me to talk to my neighbor about Jesus. Do I stay home because I’ve decided my neighbor is too far gone to even listen? Maybe God is nudging me to change careers, take responsibility at church, quit smoking, or some other task that seems beyond my capabilities. Do I come up with excuses like, “I can’t quit my job and make less money doing something else, I have a family to support”, or “I can’t teach a Sunday School class”, or “I’ve tried to quit smoking and I just can’t”, or… (add your excuses to the list).

As I read the Bible I see a God who delights in accomplishing the impossible. Not the least of which is the changing of lives through the blood of his Son, Jesus. The lesson here today is: If God is in it – there is no such thing as impossible.

Father, I pray your children will hear your voice. May we recognize the times when you are asking us to do things that seems impossible. Help us to understand that you are best seen during those times when you give us the ability to share the gospel, teach that class, or do some other task that in and of ourselves is impossible. May you find us faithful, Lord, and may we watch you accomplish the impossible in each of us today.

Plan A

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Did you ever work toward a goal but have things turn out differently than you had imagined? In Genesis 29 we see that Jacob worked for seven years to marry Rachael only to wake up one day and realize he’d married her sister Leah instead. Oh, he eventually married Rachael but it took seven more years to seal the deal. Jacob was blessed with twelve sons as a result of his marriages and the Twelve Tribes of Israel were established through him. But it wasn’t exactly Jacob’s Plan A.

It was, however, God’s.

If Jacob had gotten his way and married only Rachel we might be talking about the Two Tribes of Israel. If he had harbored resentment, or gone back to Isaac with Leah and pouted about not getting what he wanted, who knows what would have been the result. Instead Jacob accepted the roadblock and went back to work. And God blessed him for it.

What do you do when your plans and dreams take a detour? Do you give up? Do you waste time with anger and resentment? Do you play the blame game? Or do you thank God for the detour and get going again? Not all our goals are from God. And if he puts a roadblock in our way or shuts a door in our face to prevent us from succeeding at that thing, he does it out of love. 

I think God would have me see that he is interested in our journey as much – or maybe more than- reaching our goal. And on this journey he wants to bless us, to bring us joy, to use us to demonstrate his love. That’s why I pray that if what I am doing is not his will, he will put up that roadblock, that I will fail. And if it is from him, that he would bless it and bring about his goal. I’d rather have his Plan A fulfilled in me than my own Plan A… or B… or C… if God isn’t in it. 

God, I thank you for having a plan for my life. I know that the bottom line is that you want to use me to draw unsaved people to the Savior. So Father, I pray that you will make your will known, that I will recognize the stop signs and detours, and that I will be faithful to walk where you want me to go. I want your Plan A to be mine.