"I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt" -Joshua 2:9-10
Let's realize that there is NOTHING that can challenge God's will. Rest peacefully, act boldly, and expect huge things from a God who melts away opposition.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
When He Chuckles and Says "Get Over it"
"The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons'"-1 Samuel 16:1
I love God's sense of humor in this passage. I picture him coming along side of Samuel who is mopping around, grumbling about Saul not being king and saying, "how about you get over it and trust that I have a plan in all of this." My two favorite words in this verse are GO and PROVIDE. See, there are surely times in life where what seemed to be the best or the right plan simply does not work out. When that happens, often times I find myself grieving the loss of my own will. Maybe we don't get the job, don't make the grade, or a relationship falls through. God promises he does PROVIDE and he really urges us to get up, stop dwelling on what we, in our limited vision, see as a failure, and GO, to continue to seek his will.
Praise Jesus that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25)!
I love God's sense of humor in this passage. I picture him coming along side of Samuel who is mopping around, grumbling about Saul not being king and saying, "how about you get over it and trust that I have a plan in all of this." My two favorite words in this verse are GO and PROVIDE. See, there are surely times in life where what seemed to be the best or the right plan simply does not work out. When that happens, often times I find myself grieving the loss of my own will. Maybe we don't get the job, don't make the grade, or a relationship falls through. God promises he does PROVIDE and he really urges us to get up, stop dwelling on what we, in our limited vision, see as a failure, and GO, to continue to seek his will.
Praise Jesus that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25)!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
It's Singular
"if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places" -Isaiah 58:10-11
I find it interesting that this is set up like a conditional statement. If we do this, then this happens. However, this is not a matter of earning God's blessings, it is all about being blessed as a direct result of following his plan. It's almost like getting wet when you run under a sprinkler. When we're willing to camp out under the designed purpose that the Lord has for us, rejoicing in his glory, we become covered with satisfaction.
The last part of the verse promises that he'll satisfy our desire. It's not plural "desires." There is one chief desire he promises to satisfy and it comes when we pour out for the glory of his name. Is it possible, that being all about spreading the name of Jesus and loving others like he does is in fact THE desire of our heart? Ruminate on that a little, because the opportunity to experience the fulfillment of that desire is more available that we realize, in fact, it's built into what drives us. Praise Jesus for allowing us to have purpose that fills!
I find it interesting that this is set up like a conditional statement. If we do this, then this happens. However, this is not a matter of earning God's blessings, it is all about being blessed as a direct result of following his plan. It's almost like getting wet when you run under a sprinkler. When we're willing to camp out under the designed purpose that the Lord has for us, rejoicing in his glory, we become covered with satisfaction.
The last part of the verse promises that he'll satisfy our desire. It's not plural "desires." There is one chief desire he promises to satisfy and it comes when we pour out for the glory of his name. Is it possible, that being all about spreading the name of Jesus and loving others like he does is in fact THE desire of our heart? Ruminate on that a little, because the opportunity to experience the fulfillment of that desire is more available that we realize, in fact, it's built into what drives us. Praise Jesus for allowing us to have purpose that fills!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
The Hired Hand vs. The Owner
"He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep." -John 10:12-15
I think this passage is boss! Do you have hired hands in your own life? They are those things we look towards for satisfaction, protection, joy, identity, and salvation. They walk out on us, leaving us to the consequences of our sin. The great news is that our good shepherd has already proven his willingness to stand by us through the finished work on the cross. Have we taken the opportunity to know him?
I think this passage is boss! Do you have hired hands in your own life? They are those things we look towards for satisfaction, protection, joy, identity, and salvation. They walk out on us, leaving us to the consequences of our sin. The great news is that our good shepherd has already proven his willingness to stand by us through the finished work on the cross. Have we taken the opportunity to know him?
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Magnets
"but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." -Isaiah 59:2
I get the picture of what happens when you take two magnets of the same pole and push them together. They repel. Sin is that repelling force between us and God. How sweet the nearness is when we allow his righteousness to cover our failures and his power to remake our hearts for the things that he calls good!
I get the picture of what happens when you take two magnets of the same pole and push them together. They repel. Sin is that repelling force between us and God. How sweet the nearness is when we allow his righteousness to cover our failures and his power to remake our hearts for the things that he calls good!
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