We can be in a fix, with the only remedy being time.
What do we do in the meantime?
It is easy to spend out time regretting the choices or events that got us here. “If only I’d left a new minutes earlier.” “If only I hadn’t…” If only that bug hadn’t been going around in my school, my workplace.” “If only we weren’t stuck here until the weather improved.” “If only we hadn’t lost power.” Those are examples of being stuck for a period of time.
It is possible to lose opportunities by looking to the past, ignoring the present, and wasting the future.
Instead, let’s look how to use the unexpected “downtime” doing something that will matter later.
How can we best use this unexpected time? What does this make possible?
This is AWFUL!
Yet You are holy (Psalm 22:3)
This is HORRIBLE!
Yet You are Creator, Sovereign, Faithful, Loving.
Father, help me, help us, rejoice in who You are. Help us rejoice in Your holy, loving faithfulness.
The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:6-7).
Father, help me, help us, trust in Your righteousness, and trust that You are fulfilling Your holy plan.
Father, help me, help us, know, really know, that You are bringing Your children, those of us who have received Christ as Lord and Savior, to glory.
Praise Your holy name.
Do you love Jesus with the highest, self-sacrificing (agape) love?
Do you seek the Kingdom of God first?
Do you love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength?
I certainly fall short.
Be encouraged!
Jesus asked Peter if Peter agape loved Him, and Peter said that he phileo loved Him (was affectionate toward Him). (John 21)
And Jesus gave him a ministry!
We don’t deserve our salvation, our spiritual growth, God’s forgiveness, or the ways God gives us to serve Him. But God’s love for us, His children, we who have received Christ as Lord and Savior, is infinite and everlasting.
Ask Him
Ask God for greater love for Him.
Praise Him
Praise Him for His love, His mercy, His grace. Know that glory awaits.
Be Encouraged
The world is noisy. And family, friends, co-workers, fellow students, bosses, media, entertainment, etc., etc., etc. have a lot to say, not all of which is helpful (but some is). Some of which is wrong. Some of which is evil.
Some of these sources are from the world, and are not of God.
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them (1 John 4:5).
We have to be careful who and what we listen to. What we heed. What we act on. What we obey.
Take care how you listen (Luke 8:18).
Listen to Me! Listen to God’s Son!
Oh that My people would listen to Me! (Psalm 81:13)
This is My Son, My chosen One; listen to Him! (Luke 9:35)
How to Listen
We are to hear with a good and honest heart.
Hear the word in a honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance (Luke 8:15).
Let these words sink into your ears (Luke 9:44).
Hear and Believe
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life (John 5:24).
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13)
Hear and Obey
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24).
Some cannot hear. Some hear and reject.
Pharisees, scribes, chief priests, Herodians listened, plotted, and tried to catch Him, trap Him, in something He said so they might accuse Him, might destroy Him (Luke 11:54, Luke 20:20, Mark 3:6, Mark 12:13).
Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him (Luke 16:14).
For the time will cone when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Self-Assessment
How good are we at listening to the Lord?
Do we know how to discern truth from error?
How well do we know what God says to us?
Do we know who and what to listen to… and who and what to ignore?
~~~
Father, please help us long for Your word, study Your word, and apply Your word to our lives. Please help us distinguish truth from error. Please help us obey You.
~~~
I had a glitch with emailing last week’s blog. Here it is: Everywhere I Look.
We have choices everyday about where we look/gaze/stare. And we have choices about our interpretations. We are responsible.
Where we look can lead us astray. Achan saw something beautiful that God had prohibited. Then Achan coveted them and took them. And then he concealed them in the earth inside his tent. Then he was killed for his rebellion against God. (Joshua 7)
On the other hand, Job determined not to fall into lust: I have made a covenant with my eyes; How then could I gaze at a virgin? (Job 31:1)
We are to:
Look to the Holy One (Isaiah 31:1).
Look to the eternal things not seen (2 Corinthians 4:18).
Look for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13).
Look for the eternal city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10).
Look intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abide by it (James 1:25).
Look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).
We are to fix our eyes on Jesus
In order for us to run our Christian race with endurance, we are to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).
~~~
Father, help us notice what You want us to see, and help us see and think and act with eternity in mind. Please help us turn our eyes away from our fears and worries to Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Suppose
Suppose you really prayed whether or not to take that new job, or whether or not to send your child to that school, or …. And suppose you were confident you were in the Lord’s will to do so.
And suppose it turned out very VERY badly.
Did you fail to hear God? Did you hear Him and then went your own way anyway?
Do your circumstances prove you rejected His guidance?
No.
Jesus tells us that those who live godly WILL be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).
Paul and Silas ended up beaten, in prison, and in stocks because they preached the gospel and cast out a demon. The jailer and his family ended up saved. Did the Lord put them in that particular prison so that the jailer and his family would hear the gospel and be saved? (Acts 16:9-40)
Did Paul end up in the deep because God didn’t want him to be on that ship? Did Paul not obey? (Look at the list of Paul’s labors and sufferings! (2 Corinthians 11:23-28)
Your bad circumstances
Your bad circumstances are not proof. Of course, God does lovingly discipline us, and send us though various trails and disciplines as part of making us into the image of His Son. He also puts us into situations so we can witness to Him.
In any case, our responsibility is to trust Him and continually strive to live in a manner pleasing to Him.
Remember
My ways [are] higher than your ways and My thoughts [are higher] than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
The directions for a godly life are: Come to Jesus, Hear His words, Act on what He says (See Directions for a godly Life).
All three require: Decision, Determination, Habit, Courage.
Come to Jesus
After we have been redeemed, we need to decide to go to Christ throughout the day. The more we have Him top-of-mind, the easier that is. We have to determine that is going to be our pattern of life, and develop a firm habit of going to Him.
Hear His Words
God speaks to us in His Word, the Bible. We must decide to learn His Word. We must develop the habit to thoughtfully and prayerfully study what He says to us. And then we must think about what He says during the day.
Act on what He says
Here, courage comes in. We must decide in advance that we are going to do what He says. We must resolutely determine we are going to do what He says. Period.
But acting on what He says can take courage What if it’s scary? What if it look like it might cost us something dear? What if it looks like it would put us in physical danger…or worse? What if….
We must determine to do it anyway.
Tips
Christ, as He promised, sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in believers. We have what it takes to do what He says.
Look beyond the scary to Jesus Christ. Remember what He says and what He promises. Look at the challenge from the point of view of eternity. Pray for strength to do what He asks. Know that you have been given all the resources you need to do what He says. Remember that we are promised rewards for living a godly life.
Do it anyway!
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Come. Hear. Act
Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock, and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. (Luke 6:47-48)
Our directions for a godly life:
Come to Jesus
Salvation is the underpinning reality, and continually, constantly, coming to Jesus is key for living in a manner worthy of Him.
Most of the records of Jesus healing a specific individual included the sick person or their family or friends coming to Jesus.
We need the core habit of going to Jesus whenever… Sick? Scared? Anxious? Challenged? Uncertain? Happy? Whatever.
Hear His Words
God’s word to us is the Bible In order for us to hear Jesus’ words, we much know what He said, and that means to know the Bible. We must alertly and prayerfully read His words, ruminate on them, and be able to call them to mind.
Knowing the Bible is key.
Act On His Words
Then, we must act on what Jesus said. We must show our faith in action.
Reward
Jesus said if we could come to Him, heart His words, and act on them, our lives would be well built and able to withstand the storms of life.
Directions: Come. Hear. Act.
Repetition!
Repetition is needed, because we forget what God has told us. We are frequently told to remember.
Our worship is about who He is and what He has done. Both require us to remember. We repeat facts about His glorious being, and He powerful, loving, just acts.
My prompt, this time, calling me to remember and repeat, is the state of the world. Violence. Unjust events. Suffering of the innocent. ACK!
We must remember that God is Judge. He knows everything: thoughts, deeds, motives. He is the Law Giver and knows our violations. God gets it right!
We must remember that judgment happens on His timetable, not ours. Remember and repeat!
He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:31)
Part of what He gets right the the day of judgment. He is patient, not wanting any to perish (2 peter 3:9).
God’s judgment is coming. God gets it right!
Praise Him. And hang on. And press on.
For three years Jesus healed, cast out demons, raised the dead, calmed the seas and winds, walked on water, made wine out of water, and more.
Wouldn’t you think that was proof of His deity?
Yet.
When He entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey (fulfilling Zechariah 9:9), He was joyously greeted by the crowds.
Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest! (Mark 11:9-10)
Five days later they called for His crucifixion. “Crucify Him!” (Mark 15:13-14)
What happened?
I used to think that they were two different crowds. More likely, though, the Friday crowd were people whose expectations of a political Messiah had been dashed. They couldn’t bear that He didn’t meet their expectations. He didn’t behave the way they wanted. It wasn’t turning out the way they desired.
We might say we would never have done that, and yet we can crumple in bad times when we only expect our version of good from God.
Peter lived with Jesus for three years and saw not only His miracles, but also His sinless life. Peter proclaimed “You are the Christ” (Mark 8:29), and shortly after rejected Jesus’ statement of His coming crucifixion (Mark 8:32).
We, or a loved one, might have unexpected health and financial trouble. We may suffer horrible rejection, or persecution, or other difficulties. And we will have the common irritants of life. We will be in trouble if we expect only our version of good times! We must not be surprised by trouble and trials and tribulation.
Jesus told us in this world we would have trouble (John 16:33). We are also told that He would be with us always (Matthew 28:20). God promises that He works all things together for good to those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Beware. In this fallen world, this sin-laden world, there will be bad times. Focus on the truth of our eternal God. KNOW that what has happened is from your loving sovereign Father. Accept what He is doing. You are His beloved child.
Trust Him.
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When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? helps Christians not fear bad news, shows them how to handle current trouble, and helps them emerge stronger on the other side.
About me
I'm a Christian, wife, retiree, and author.
I love studying and putting knowledge into action. I'll share what I'm learning, encourage you, and urge all of us to press on to become more like Christ.
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