Read Jonah then reflect:
Sometimes we follow God and all is well, until an unexpected storm arises. We cry out to God as if he has forgotten about us, experiencing a lack of faith. He quiets us and comes to our aid.
Do these "storms" arise as a result of our unwillingness to respond to God's calling? Does a willingness to serve result in God's calling? Why do we lack faith? Is it human nature? Is it Satan's influence? Why is this gift from God so hard to grasp at times? Why does our level of faith seem to fluctuate at times? What "storms" or circumstances have rocked our boats? What action calmed the storm? Have we cried out to God from the depths of despair? How has he poured out his mercy in response, despite the fact that we do not deserve it?
"Believers often settle down in the lower places and miss the exaltation of going with Him to the mountaintops." Falling In Love With Jesus
Where are you now? Have you been to the "lower places?" Have you been to the "mountaintops?" What is holding you back?
We have a CHOICE to give God the glory and thankfulness he deserves. We can choose to honer him or allow our wickedness to ignore his truth. What choice will you make? How many times today did you pass up the opportunity to make the right choice?
Why so often do we find our hearts filled with OUR desires? Why doesn't God just override those and fill our hearts with HIS desires? Doesn't it sometimes seem like we spend years chasing after something WE want, just to finally conclude that we aren't supposed to have that.
Read 1 Kings 3:9+
Solomon asked for wisdom and in turn was given so much more. Many blessings were bestowed upon him as a result of his desire to be wise.
Note to self: What good is it to ask for wisdom, but not actively seek it? DUH!
Thoughts about money
Wealth is not meant to be hoarded, but to be spent for the glory of God. Saving is good. Being financially responsible is good. Offering a tithe is a must. But think about it... if you've got it to give... let it be for the glory of God, one way or another.
Why is the generosity in my heart sometimes greater than what is in my pocket? I'm figuring that being faithful in giving my tithe and other offerings that God will bless me more and more. I suppose though that as my ability to give increases, so will my heart's desire. What a wonderful thing!
Read James 2: 18 -26
Having faith without deeds is useless.
Do you know what "Faith" is? There is a definition - See Hebrews 11. Isn't it interesting that demons know the truth? Are we acting in accordance with our faith? What deeds have we pursued recently?
3 comments:
ON FAITH AND TRUSTING:
How one handles the stresses in life is a good indicator of where one's focus is, not just a matter of faith, but one's relationship to the Father.
Certainly we ALL have had some major stresses, and have had to walk in the valleys of life. The difference between one who knows the Lord personally and one who knows OF the Lord but is not focused on Him, determines our response to the stressors.
So what is the response to stressors? The one who knows the Lord personally will "cry out to Him" not because of lack of faith, but because of deep abiding faith- knowing that the promise is there, written in His Word "I will not leave you or forsake you".. "Come to me all you who labor or are heavy laden and I will give you rest". We are told to cry out to God in our distress.
In Psalm 69, David is crying out to God:
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. 3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
Mankind tends to want everything on an even keel, but to have this, we would forget that there is a great God who provides our every need daily. We would grow fat and lazy and and our focus would be totally on ourselves and what pleases US. This is not the intention of the Lord. We are to seek Him daily and when troubles arise, and they do, we are to turn to Him for help.
See James 1:
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
There is a certain calmness in those who seek the Lord earnestly and who desire to do His will daily. "Peace that passes understanding". That doesn't mean that Christians are never horrified or shocked or hurt by things around them, but it means that when they are faced with them, they immediately turn to God for help and don't trust in men to find comfort.
Facing trials in life makes us grow stonger in our faith. Sometimes the outcome is not what we expect or desire, but God knows what is good for us and leads us in directions we can't understand in this present life. I see it as a huge tapestry- God weaving colorful threads in our lives, bringing people in and taking them out again. Lots of the threads don't come close to us, many do, and these threads are the people closest to us obviously, and we complement each other as the threads are woven together. We don't see the big picture in this life, only a teensy tiny window. The trials we face give us color and strengthen our threads. Now, that's not scriptural, of course, but just my way of seeing the all of life. Seeing my personal insignificance, but knowing that my thread counts to God just as much as the bright golden ones. We impact each other's lives one situation at a time.
Wendell and I have faced some pretty heavy stressors in the past 6 months- more than in all the years we have known each other. And we are still facing these day by day, but my trust is secure and my faith does not waver.. for without the Lord every day meeting our needs, we would have nothing.
Every day I pray that He will provide for our needs and keep us healthy and strong. He does this. You might think that strokes and heart surgery and miserable feet would make us want to give up, but just the opposite has occurred- the clinging to the Lord is more than ever before, and the trust is there, knowing that He will definitely provide whatever we need to keep us. God is so awesome. I've seen it so many times in the past few years especially. He has made our family strong and loving with each other despite our faults. When one of us is in need, the others rush to the side and actively help-I have been known to sit down and pray "Okay Lord, what next? How will we pay this bill with Wendell out of work and my income so low? Please provide.. I don't know how to take care of this. Lord, only YOU can help, and I trust that You will."...and the next thing you know, there is a phone call or an email that says "it's paid"... eh? Sound familiar? The response is "thank you Lord for our daily needs and for providing yet again".
That's faith and trusting in action.
ON MATERIAL WEALTH
Luke 12:15 says
He said to them, "Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses."
and......Luke 12:48:
To whoever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
Again, we tend to think that everything we have is ours, it is folly to think that way. We come into this world with nothing, and we leave the same way. That accumulated 'wealth'in the interim is sort of like icing on a cake- sweet and desirable, but better if there isn't too much.
Sometimes I think it was good that I grew up in poverty. I never knew that I was in that state until many years later. I had clothes, food, and a roof over my head, and loving parents and family. Who could ask for anything more?
It was one day back in the 1960s that I asked my Mom what Dad's income was for the year. She said +/- $5000. WOW! That seemed like a lot of money, but not really when you consider the bills, raising 4 children and sending them to school- even college!
Now consider this: everything you own personally is given to you on loan from the Father while you are in this world. I thought of this a couple of years ago when I found us in such deep financial straits. My prayer since then is to thank the Lord for providing this home and the land for these many years, and acknowledge that it is but a loan, and we actually don't "own" it. It puts things in a different light when you see it that way. So if the Lord wants us to be servants somewhere else, then we will move. He has not required this of us to this point.
In fact, He seems to be opening other doors for us to help us remain here- ie..John and Mandy's plans to build an apartment for us.
What is wealth?
There is material wealth where one accumulates a lot of "things" that are of some value. Or having enough financial resources to supply needs.
The problem arises with material wealth in that we have and then want more and more 'things' to make our life comfortable. This often leads to forgetting WHO provides this wealth- we tend to think WE are the originators.
Never ever put your trust in 'things'... they can be taken away and you can lose greatly in the end.
God provides- jobs, incomes, homes, etc. You name it, God originated it for our comfort. Our nation is the wealthiest in the world. We take things for granted every day like jobs, electricity, running clean water, flushing commodes, daily showers, food on the table, telephones, tv and radios,computers, clean clothes, cars to get us from one place to another. I had an email once that said if you have any of these things you were among the top (something like) 5% of the wealthiest people in the world. And yet even our poorest have many of these things. We really don't know poverty. Remember, material wealth is fleeting and has no eternal value.
Then there is spiritual wealth.
How much of God's word do we hide in our hearts? Does it match the material possessions of our life?
How has God blessed you? I know He has poured out blessings on us every day, and I try to think about these things and thank the Lord for them.
He gave us His Word to hide in our hearts.. He says to bind them to our wrists and foreheads that they would be present all the time.
I have several Bibles and commentaries... I consider this spiritual wealth/material wealth- the 2 exist together. Our church has members who pray for each other. I recognize God's hand in all facets of my life. I am very blessed. I have Christian friends and family, and the Holy Spirit dwells in my heart- there is evidence of that in the fruits.
Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 gentleness, and self-control
This is spiritual wealth. My desire is for more spiritual wealth and God will supply the material portion as He sees fit. Sometimes I don't see all the fruits in my life, and I fail miserably, but I am a work in progress, and God is very patient with me.
<<"Believers often settle down in the lower places and miss the exaltation of going with Him to the mountaintops." Falling In Love With Jesus
Where are you now? Have you been to the "lower places?" Have you been to the "mountaintops?" What is holding you back? >>
Sometimes I think there are Christians who never have had a bad experience or bad long seige of disasters. Maybe they don't need them to make them recognize how much they are relying on God.
I'm just the opposite .. I've been to the gutter and hopeless and helpless- all the way to the bottom. It has made me see God's wonderful plan for me and made me realize my need for a savior. I realize and acknowledge that I can do absolutely NOTHING on my own, but with God, I can do ANYTHING! That's a mountaintop .. Letting go of our burdens is the first step up the mountain, and then stepping out in faith that God is there all the way takes you right to the top. The view is awesome!
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