Prov 3:5-6 (NIV) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Are you facing a crossroad in your life? Do you have family or friends who are depending on you to make wise choices? Are you ever unsure whether you are making the right decisions?
Is there a difference between just trusting the Lord, and trusting the Lord with all your heart? Maybe it’s time to try some extreme trust! I have heard it said, "To have things you've never had, you must be willing to do things you've never done.” Like trusting when we know potential harm may come to us or trusting without a guarantee. So many times we want answers, plain and clear, before we trust. But real trust, trusting with all your heart, involves stepping out in total darkness, unsure of where you are stepping, unable to see your hand in front of your face trust walking. It is not really trust if there is no risk, it is not really trust if the path is straight and the road is clearly marked, if the brightness of the sun clears away the shadows and reveals all the obstacles in our way.
We often want to do things our way rather than God’s way, God’s way is not the natural way we often think about, so to do things we have never done is in many ways parallel to trying it God’s way, something we cannot do without being led by the Spirit. The New Testament talks often about individuals like Paul and Philip being led away by the spirit. This is something we need to ask for from God on a daily basis, for God to redirect our plans through His Spirit in all that we do. Then be willing to do whatever God directs us to do no matter how crazy it may sound at the time.
God will not give us detailed instructions and it is not like Him to reveal His plans far ahead of time. But if we are open minded to His “still, small voice” speaking to our hearts, if we have faith to believe what He is revealing to us, is actually from Him, then just in time He will direct our paths.
Describe some of the risks you have taken in order to follow Jesus? What other risks would you be willing to take to follow Him more?
Showing posts with label Submission to God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Submission to God. Show all posts
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Romans 8:28
Rom 8:28 (KJV) “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Is there anything God does not touch or that he shows no interest in? God’s hand is involved in everything and nothing happens that His eyes cannot penetrate. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” Ps 145:9 (NIV); “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Matt 10:29 (NLT); and God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matt 5:45 (NIV); God “gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17:25 (NIV).
But this promise that “all things work together for good” is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called according to his purpose, that is, those who have chosen to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in worldly treasures; their security is in heaven, not on earth. Their faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because like Joseph, David and Paul; whose lives were filled with suffering, each of them knew that God was ultimately with them no matter their circumstances.
Just because God is involved in our lives doesn’t mean that all that happens to His people is good. Evil is working against us. God is involved in a spiritual warfare against Satan, it is the great controversy between good and evil. In this great controversy Satan is striving to keep non-Christians from coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and at the same time rendering Christians ineffective. Satan has dominion over this world, so he takes advantage of his authority over this world to cause pain and suffering. God only has authority over us when we submit our lives to Him. God will not interfere with our freedom of choice so we must make requests to God through our prayers and intercession for others in order for God to have permission to get involved in our human affairs. But by submitting our lives to Him we can claim the promise, that although Satan is out to ruin our lives, God will thwart Satan’s evil and turn it into good.
Even though evil is prevalent in this fallen world, God is able to turn every circumstance around for the long-term good of those who love Him. Like in the story of Joseph, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave, but within this evil act God made good come of it, as Joseph, saw God’s hand in the end, and he was able to forgive his brothers as he said to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done” Gen 50:20 (NIV). When Balaam was hired to pronounce curses upon the Children of Israel, God “turned the curse into a blessing” Deut 23:5 (NIV). When Absalom tried to overthrow the kingdom from David, his father, David said, “It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today” 2 Sam 16:12(NIV). When the Children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt, the more the Egyptians oppressed them the more God caused them to prosper. Also, when the children of Israel were wandering in the desert wilderness, they felt cursed by God because they were hungry and thirsty and so God blessed them with manna from heaven. In circumstances of apparent disaster God manages to turn things around. When Paul was in prison, God used that situation for him to be a witness to the government of Rome. But the ultimate example of God turning a curse into a blessing is the plan of salvation. We were cursed by sin, then “Christ rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing.” Gal 3:13 (NLT)
God is not working out good just to make us happy, He is actually working to fulfill his purpose in the lives of those who love Him. God’s highest purpose is to transform us into the character of Christ. The New Testament Greek word for “transform” is metamorfoústhe which means "metamorphose.” Christians are to metamorphose like a caterpillar, going into his cocoon and then coming out a butterfly. When we as Christians, show our love for Christ by surrendering our lives to Him, this is symbolized by the ordinance of baptism. As our lives metamorphose, our words, our thoughts, our deeds, and our actions are changed. The old caterpillar dies when we are submerged beneath the water of baptism representing dying to self and being buried in the grave with Christ. Then we are resurrected, up from the water, to a new life with Him, a total and complete change like into the butterfly. The apostle Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rom 12:1-2 (NKJV)
So a new paraphrase of this promise could read: So in all circumstances, even when Satan is causing us pain and suffering, we know God will turn Satan’s evil into our long-term good, because our lives are synchronized with God’s ultimate purpose and we are being metamorphosed into the character of Christ.
Describe an event in your life that was really bad at first but then God fixed it and made it right? Compare some areas in your life that Christ has transformed in you contrasted with the ways you were before?
Is there anything God does not touch or that he shows no interest in? God’s hand is involved in everything and nothing happens that His eyes cannot penetrate. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” Ps 145:9 (NIV); “Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Matt 10:29 (NLT); and God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matt 5:45 (NIV); God “gives all men life and breath and everything else.” Acts 17:25 (NIV).
But this promise that “all things work together for good” is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called according to his purpose, that is, those who have chosen to receive Christ. Such people have a new perspective, a new mind-set. They trust in God, not in worldly treasures; their security is in heaven, not on earth. Their faith in God does not waver in pain and persecution because like Joseph, David and Paul; whose lives were filled with suffering, each of them knew that God was ultimately with them no matter their circumstances.
Just because God is involved in our lives doesn’t mean that all that happens to His people is good. Evil is working against us. God is involved in a spiritual warfare against Satan, it is the great controversy between good and evil. In this great controversy Satan is striving to keep non-Christians from coming into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and at the same time rendering Christians ineffective. Satan has dominion over this world, so he takes advantage of his authority over this world to cause pain and suffering. God only has authority over us when we submit our lives to Him. God will not interfere with our freedom of choice so we must make requests to God through our prayers and intercession for others in order for God to have permission to get involved in our human affairs. But by submitting our lives to Him we can claim the promise, that although Satan is out to ruin our lives, God will thwart Satan’s evil and turn it into good.
Even though evil is prevalent in this fallen world, God is able to turn every circumstance around for the long-term good of those who love Him. Like in the story of Joseph, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave, but within this evil act God made good come of it, as Joseph, saw God’s hand in the end, and he was able to forgive his brothers as he said to them, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done” Gen 50:20 (NIV). When Balaam was hired to pronounce curses upon the Children of Israel, God “turned the curse into a blessing” Deut 23:5 (NIV). When Absalom tried to overthrow the kingdom from David, his father, David said, “It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today” 2 Sam 16:12(NIV). When the Children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt, the more the Egyptians oppressed them the more God caused them to prosper. Also, when the children of Israel were wandering in the desert wilderness, they felt cursed by God because they were hungry and thirsty and so God blessed them with manna from heaven. In circumstances of apparent disaster God manages to turn things around. When Paul was in prison, God used that situation for him to be a witness to the government of Rome. But the ultimate example of God turning a curse into a blessing is the plan of salvation. We were cursed by sin, then “Christ rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing.” Gal 3:13 (NLT)
God is not working out good just to make us happy, He is actually working to fulfill his purpose in the lives of those who love Him. God’s highest purpose is to transform us into the character of Christ. The New Testament Greek word for “transform” is metamorfoústhe which means "metamorphose.” Christians are to metamorphose like a caterpillar, going into his cocoon and then coming out a butterfly. When we as Christians, show our love for Christ by surrendering our lives to Him, this is symbolized by the ordinance of baptism. As our lives metamorphose, our words, our thoughts, our deeds, and our actions are changed. The old caterpillar dies when we are submerged beneath the water of baptism representing dying to self and being buried in the grave with Christ. Then we are resurrected, up from the water, to a new life with Him, a total and complete change like into the butterfly. The apostle Paul said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rom 12:1-2 (NKJV)
So a new paraphrase of this promise could read: So in all circumstances, even when Satan is causing us pain and suffering, we know God will turn Satan’s evil into our long-term good, because our lives are synchronized with God’s ultimate purpose and we are being metamorphosed into the character of Christ.
Describe an event in your life that was really bad at first but then God fixed it and made it right? Compare some areas in your life that Christ has transformed in you contrasted with the ways you were before?
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