We desperately need God to show us what to do. We need to hear from God! We need Him to point us in the way we should go! Here's the truth that God is lovingly pounding into my heart from the specific Bible study He's provided for me at this particular time. It is no coincidence that these challenges have arrived at the same time as the Experiencing God class.
I'M LEARNING, ONCE AGAIN, THAT EXPERIENCING GOD IS A PROCESS ... a chain of necessary events. It all starts with knowing Him. The more I truly KNOW Him, the more I will LOVE Him. The more I LOVE Him, the more I will BELIEVE AND TRUST Him. The more I believe and trust Him, the more I will OBEY Him. The more I obey Him, the more He will respond to my obedience by REVEALING HIMSELF to me. He takes the initiative by opening my eyes. Only when MY EYES ARE OPENED BY GOD am I enabled to actually see what He's doing around me.
Whenever He allows me to SEE AND RECOGNIZE His activity around me- showing to me THOSE THINGS THAT ONLY GOD CAN DO - that revelation, in and of itself, is GOD HIMSELF INVITING ME TO JOIN HIM in His work, giving me clear direction! I will never be able to SEE Him working around me, though, unless HE OPENS MY EYES.
He will open my eyes, as an expression of His love, when He sees me OBEYING Him. (Obeying Him is NOT synonymous with doing lots of stuff for Him!) I will naturally obey Him when I BELIEVE AND TRUST HIM. I will believe and trust Him when I LOVE Him. I will love Him only as I come to KNOW Him.
Whenever He allows me to SEE AND RECOGNIZE His activity around me- showing to me THOSE THINGS THAT ONLY GOD CAN DO - that revelation, in and of itself, is GOD HIMSELF INVITING ME TO JOIN HIM in His work, giving me clear direction! I will never be able to SEE Him working around me, though, unless HE OPENS MY EYES.
He will open my eyes, as an expression of His love, when He sees me OBEYING Him. (Obeying Him is NOT synonymous with doing lots of stuff for Him!) I will naturally obey Him when I BELIEVE AND TRUST HIM. I will believe and trust Him when I LOVE Him. I will love Him only as I come to KNOW Him.
IT'S ALL INTRICATELY WRAPPED UP TOGETHER. The whole chain is only as strong as each link! And the whole thing begins with KNOWING HIM. So ... If I'm having trouble obeying Him, I am NOT to start working on obeying Him more. I must BACK UP! It's NOT an obedience problem! It's a LOVE problem. If I'm not obeying Him, I do not LOVE Him! But I mustn't stop there. The solution is not in trying to love Him more. The answer is not to focus on loving Him. That approach ends in frustration and failure.
Back up to where it all starts! As the song goes, "Let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start!" Focus on KNOWING HIM. Lay everything else aside. Stop ALL "work" for Him. Stop all the 'STUFF" I'm trying to do for Him. Go back to square one. GET TO KNOW HIM more! How does one get to know Him better? The same way you get to know anyone better. Spend TIME with Him. Lots of it. Spend that time focused on Him, not on self.
Back up to where it all starts! As the song goes, "Let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start!" Focus on KNOWING HIM. Lay everything else aside. Stop ALL "work" for Him. Stop all the 'STUFF" I'm trying to do for Him. Go back to square one. GET TO KNOW HIM more! How does one get to know Him better? The same way you get to know anyone better. Spend TIME with Him. Lots of it. Spend that time focused on Him, not on self.
AS OF TODAY, THAT IS MY APPROACH TO THE CURRENT CHALLENGES and problems. I'm purposing to STOP grappling with what to do, what to say, what to decide, how to help, how to solve the problem, how to be the right this or the right that, how to succeed with this or with that, what to start doing different, what changes to make, etc, etc, etc, etc ... on and on. I'm purposing to lay it all down, and to simply spend time with Him, seeking to GET TO KNOW HIM on a deeper level than I've known before.
WHEN HE SEES ME DILIGENTLY SEEKING HIM, LOOKING FOR HIM - not looking for answers, not looking for Him to DO something for me, nor for His Hand to move on my behalf ... but simply seeking to KNOW HIM - Scripture promises that He WILL be found! [Jeremiah 19:13, Deuteronomy 4:29] He is faithful! He is never a no-show Friend! When I find HIM, spend time with Him - getting to KNOW Him in the process, the sequence, God's plan, is then set in motion.
Knowing leads to loving. Loving leads to trusting. Trusting leads to obeying. Obedience gets His attention! And He then responds! He takes the initiative by opening my eyes - showing me what He's doing around me - revealing those God-things that are happening around me that ONLY HE can do. These things I CANNOT see, unless HE opens my eyes! When He shows me what He's doing, He's inviting me to join Him. My SEEING is my invitation to join in the work. THAT is my direction from Him! That is how He points the way for me to go. THAT is how He says, "THIS is the way; walk ye in it!"
Knowing leads to loving. Loving leads to trusting. Trusting leads to obeying. Obedience gets His attention! And He then responds! He takes the initiative by opening my eyes - showing me what He's doing around me - revealing those God-things that are happening around me that ONLY HE can do. These things I CANNOT see, unless HE opens my eyes! When He shows me what He's doing, He's inviting me to join Him. My SEEING is my invitation to join in the work. THAT is my direction from Him! That is how He points the way for me to go. THAT is how He says, "THIS is the way; walk ye in it!"
I SHARE THIS IN THE HOPE THAT OTHERS MAY FIND IT HELPFUL, TOO - and in the knowledge that while the circumstances of our lives may be very different, we share the same root struggles in this life. "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man..." 1 Cor 10:13. It's not about how many things I can DO for God, how effective I can be, how successful my efforts are for Him, etc, etc, etc. It's about how well I come to KNOW HIM. That is the key to it all.
EACH OF US HAS STRENGTHS AND ABILITIES THAT GOD HAS PLACED into our lives. God certainly is aware of them, and as we grow, we become aware of them, as well. Others will notice, too. But we must never forget there is another who takes notice. Satan is equally aware of those strengths and abilities. He will do everything within His power - which is certainly greater than our own power - to see that those strengths never have any true, lasting impact, lasting value.... that they never really impact the world ... the lost people all around - and that they never really impact the Kingdom of God ... edifying and building up the Body of Christ.
IF SATAN CAN JUST KEEP US FOCUSED ON DOING STUFF, if he can keep us BUSY with stuff we want to DO for God ... he's well accomplished his goal. If he can influence us to stay focused on "What should I do? How should I do it? What's next? What should I change? What should I decide? How can I have a greater impact? What would work better? How? What? When? Etc, etc, etc." - that's all it takes.
We're then off and running, heading around to second and third base, getting multiple pats on the back as we run, and flying toward home with our arms raised in victory, accompanied by the shouts and cheering of the crowd - never even realizing that we missed first base. All that striving and pushing - all that energy and activity and all that work - is all for naught ... counts for nothing. We missed first base, and the Umpire shouts, "He's OUT!"
We're then off and running, heading around to second and third base, getting multiple pats on the back as we run, and flying toward home with our arms raised in victory, accompanied by the shouts and cheering of the crowd - never even realizing that we missed first base. All that striving and pushing - all that energy and activity and all that work - is all for naught ... counts for nothing. We missed first base, and the Umpire shouts, "He's OUT!"
SCRIPTURE TELLS US WHAT TO DO WITH SATAN. We're told to resist him. How? By doing more? Spending more time working for God? Do more church work? Work for greater excellence? Better sermons? Better teaching? Better presentations? Better music? Better this or better that? Practicing how to be a more effective speaker? singer? counselor? NO, NO, NO, a thousand times NO!
That's just EXACTLY what Satan wants us to do! RESIST Satan by drawing CLOSE to God - and God will then draw close to you! What happens then are things that only God can do. As He does His work in us - convicting and drawing us to repentance and humility - we will come to know Him ... more and more (James 4:6-10). And the sequence begins!
That's just EXACTLY what Satan wants us to do! RESIST Satan by drawing CLOSE to God - and God will then draw close to you! What happens then are things that only God can do. As He does His work in us - convicting and drawing us to repentance and humility - we will come to know Him ... more and more (James 4:6-10). And the sequence begins!
IF WE WANT TO BE A TRUE SERVANT OF GOD, one to whom the Almighty God chooses to show Himself, then we've got to do it HIS WAY. We must resist doing it OUR way, doing what WE determine is a great "spiritual" endeavor, "serving Him" the way WE want to serve. His way is not OUR way. He doesn't THINK like we think. His ways are not our ways! We must do it HIS WAY - which is just the opposite of ours. And it all starts at the very beginning ... KNOW HIM. To accomplish that, we must stop all our working and striving, and simply be still. And THAT is contrary to our sin nature - our pride, our self.
'BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD." Be still. Stop all that activity "for" Me, and just stay still - right here beside Me. Get to know Me. "I AM that I AM." Get to know Me as the great I AM. (The Experiencing God book has a great resource in it - a list of all that God IS. His names and titles used in Scripture. That list could be found elsewhere, too, and is a good place to start. Here's an online list: http://www.smilegodlovesyou.org/names.html) He says He is the great I AM. Find out who He IS ... and get to know Him more - in all those different facets of His Being.
KNOW HIM. MORE AND MORE. THAT MUST BE OUR FOCUS. You want to know how GOD desires to use you? Then get to KNOW HIM more. Get the sequence started. And stay alert. Be on the watch. LOOK for what He reveals. WATCH for when He opens your eyes and allows you to see the things around you that ONLY GOD COULD DO. THAT will be His direction to you. His answer. DO NOT run ahead with plans and "stuff" before you've gotten His direction. He has told us how to get that direction, but we must get it HIS WAY.
WE ALL DESPERATELY NEED DIRECTION FROM HIM. When we study the life of Jesus, and how HE got direction from the Father, that reveals how He wants US to get His direction. Jesus is our example. And following Him, we will never be led wrong.
Blessings on your journey!
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