Now is the time... To Walk in God's Wisdom

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Psalm 1:1

In the process of unpacking all my books that have been stored for over a year I came across a Daily Devotional Bible and decided to begin using it again. The readings follow through the Bible in a year with passages from the Old and New Testaments, Psalms and Proverbs. As I read the story of creation again I was struck by the words, “And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind” (Genesis 1:25), and “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image”…. So God created man in his own image.” (Genesis 1:25,27).

This made me think again about the evolutionists who would have us believe that we evolved from apes. Clearly animals were created separately and differently from man. Men (and women) were the only ones to be created in the likeness of God, and, on a separate day in creation (however long that “day” might have been).

Then as I read Psalm 1 verse 1 I was struck by a connection between these two passages. The counsel, or wisdom, of the ungodly would have us believe in evolution’s ape to man theory, but that is not what God’s word tells us. To follow God’s wisdom, which is truth, is to trust his word. This will bring us into blessing, and as we go on to learn of him and his ways we will receive more insight and clarity.

We may not always fully understand what we read in the Bible. Some things may appear strange or sometimes even contradictory to our “natural” mind. However I have found that it is possible to commit those things to God and perhaps at a later time he will bring more understanding to me. That’s where our faith comes in.

The key thing is to trust the wisdom and counsel of God because it is the truth and the way to a full and satisfying life.

Prayer: Holy Spirit please be my teacher and guide me into understanding God’s word and his ways so that I may be blessed in all I do. Amen

Now is the time…… To Share the Message

…but they did not heed Moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. Exodus 6:9

The Israelites had been in tremendous bondage in Egypt, oppressed and enslaved, their cries had reached God (Exodus 6:5) and he had a plan for their deliverance. Moses was minding his business, and the sheep, out in the countryside far from Egypt when suddenly a bush bursts into flame and a voice speaks from the bush…..forever changing his life.

God was in the bush and he shared with Moses his plan – Moses had been chosen to go lead the Israelites out of their cruel bondage. It would be done under God’s guidance, direction and protection. Moses was not at all happy about the task God had set for him and tried desperately to wriggle out of it. If he’d known just how difficult it would be he probably would have run fast in the opposite direction as Jonah later did.

However God did convince Moses that he was the man for the job so Moses duly presents himself to the Israelites with this wonderful message of promised deliverance and restoration of their own promised land. But there was a problem; scripture tells us that they didn’t listen to Moses because of the anguish of their spirit and the cruel bondage they were under. They couldn’t hear the sound of hope that he brought to them.

All around us people are in anguish of spirit and under the bondage of Satan in fear, worry, anger, depression, hopelessness, sickness and much much more. We have been given a message of hope and deliverance to speak to them and we need to pass it on. We have good news – Jesus the deliverer has come to set them free, heal them and give them hope. They may not at first hear us because of their pain but we need to demonstrate God’s powerful love to them, keep listening to God, and, as Moses did, go on to be obedient to his further instructions. It may be that we need to minister love to them, acceptance, practical help or healing prayer, but through it all we should pray that their ears will be opened to receive the truth, and that their hearts are attuned to the deeper need of their spirit. Pray that faith will come to them and that they experience a peace previously unknown as you pray for them.

Because people don’t hear or heed the message doesn’t excuse us from speaking it to them. Watch for your opportunities.

Prayer: Faithful Father, make me watchful and prayerful for opportunities to share your message of deliverance and hope with those who need to hear it. Give me a love for the lost that will make me passionate for this hurting world. Amen

Now is the time... To Laugh

There is a time for everything…… a time to laugh and a time to cry. Ecclesiastes 3:1,4

At the moment I am reading a very interesting story, a novel, called “The Shack” by William P Young, a book which is unusual in the way it portrays the central character Mack’s encounter with the Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was one incident in the book that sparked my thoughts for this devotional….

Mack suddenly hears a loud crash from the kitchen where Papa (God) is preparing the evening meal. There is silence for a moment then peals of laughter from the ‘three’. Mack observes as Jesus goes for a bowl of water to clean up the mess. In the process Mack sees the loving interaction of the threesome as they laugh and clean their way through the mess.

I remembered with some sadness how many times I have gotten angry with the children (and my dear husband) over the years when they made a mess. I have been equally, if not more, angry with myself when I have had a spill of some sort. Happily I can say that more recently I have learned (mostly) to take things more in my stride, and sometimes even manage to laugh about them. It’s much more pleasant for all concerned if an accident doesn’t become a time of shame and blame even to yourself.

The example of household spills is a very simple one, but for me, learning to laugh at my mishaps and my own mistakes has been a huge growth in grace. I have found that when I learned to extend grace to myself, then it was much easier to extend it to others. Oh that I had learned it earlier in life and so saved my loved ones a lot of pain! The old adage “It’s no use crying over spilt milk” is a good one. Why waste time crying when laughter will help us (and others) heal.

I remember a Sunday School song we used to sing, “With Christ in my vessel I can smile (read laugh) at the storm.” Why is that? I think it’s because Jesus gives us perspective and grace, and his presence evokes faith in us to know that no matter what comes our way, we will be okay if we allow him to take control of the things that concern us.

The Bible tells us that a merry heart does good like medicine (Proverbs 17:22). I think we can never have enough of that medicine. Next time a challenge comes into your life, instead of getting angry, anxious, worried or fearful, just remember that Jesus is with you and with him you can smile at the ‘storm’.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please come and fill me again with the joy of your presence and the peace that will carry me through every storm of life. Help me also to laugh at my messes with you. Amen

Now is the time... To Keep Your Balance

Surely the righteous will never be shaken. Psalm 112:6

Tonight I watched as two Miner birds landed on a fragile branch where Mr Kookaburra sat surveying the late afternoon scene, no doubt hoping to spot a juicy meal in the grass below. He was totally minding his own business and I’m not sure that the intruders were at all welcome. As the branch shook with their careless and noisy arrival Mr K gave them a brief glance then totally ignored them and held tight to his perch. The visitors soon flew off to annoy other neighbours.

This little incident made me ponder the circumstances of life; the people that cross our path, unwelcome circumstances that come our way like sickness, loss of employment, family problems, even difficult people. All these things can “shake our branch”. In the current economic climate it can be very easy to get distracted, fearful and nervous. It can be so easy to lose our ‘balance’ on the branch of life if we allow such things to become our focus. The secret is to take a firm foothold of faith in our good and faithful God; to stand in faith that “The LORD will work out his plans for my life-- for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever." Psalm 138:8.

I cannot over stress the importance of knowing God’s word. The psalmist spoke of hiding God’s word in his heart that he might not sin against God (Psalm 119:11). This is the secret of keeping our balance. God wants us to walk in faith and trust in him. To do otherwise is actually to sin against him. Yes, we do have times when we are thrown off balance but it is vital when that happens to focus on the truth of God’s word and allow it to keep us balanced. Like Mr Kookaburra we can glance at the distraction but we must immediately focus back on God’s promises. Psalm 112 verse 7 tells us that “those who trust the Lord have no fear of bad news.” Why? “Because their heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” How good is that?

Satan, our enemy will try to distract us and tempt us to fear but the word says to resist the enemy and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Just like those Miner birds that got no attention from Mr K and flew right off to find someone who would socialize, the devil will flee when you ignore his taunts and give your attention and praise to God.

To get to that place of security and trust takes time. It takes time to know God and grow in our confidence and faith in his faithfulness. It takes time in the word daily and a determination to believe God’s word. The result of doing this will be a wonderful peace in the midst of any storm, no matter how big or small. This is our testimony to those who don’t know Jesus Christ – we have no fear because we are trusting in the Lord. Hallelujah!

Prayer: Faithful Father, thank you that your word is true and a stronghold for me in any time of trouble. Help me to store your word in my heart and grow in love and trust in you which will help me keep my balance in life’s storms. Amen

Now is the time... To Receive His Grace

…….His grace by which He made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6 (NKJV)

A few years ago Philip Yancey wrote a book called “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”. It’s a good question isn’t it? John Newton penned the song Amazing Grace over 200 years ago and it is still a favourite today. He had previously been a slave trader till God touched his heart.

The apostle Paul had experienced God’s amazing grace during a mission to capture, jail and kill the followers of Jesus whom Paul considered to be enemies of the truth. The grace and mercy of God so captured his heart that he began all his letters to the churches with the greeting “Grace and peace to you….” The apostle Peter had experienced the amazing grace of God after his denial of his Lord in his most difficult hour. He too wrote greetings of “grace and peace” in his letters to the churches.

Like John Newton, Paul and Peter, we too are subject to failure during our walk with Jesus. It can be so devastating when we thought we’d succeeded in overcoming a particular area of sin in our lives, only to fall flat on our face in defeat….again. Many times I have thought “I’ll never be good enough, God can’t possibly be bothered with such a failure.” How wrong that kind of thinking is. God knows us, he knows that our spirit is willing but our flesh weak. That is why he provides his strength by which we can overcome, and his grace by which we are made acceptable to him. That’s what Jesus’ death was all about – he died for failures such as me and you. It is challenging to the pride in us to have to come (again) to God and ask his forgiveness for a besetting sin, and receive his grace to begin afresh, but that is what we must do.

Receiving God’s grace makes us acceptable to him, and when we find acceptance by God we find a new acceptance of ourselves. Being released from the treadmill of trying to “be good enough” and realizing that we need God’s help, deals a deathblow to pride. It is then that his grace within us will spill over in blessing and acceptance towards others so that they too can experience the love of God through seeing his grace working in and through us.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you so much for your work on the cross which enables me to be made acceptable to God. Help me to humbly receive your grace and walk in your peace with joy. Amen

Now is the time... To Check for Termites

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

On a recent walk I was fascinated to see a termite tunnel crossing the gravel path I was on. In the same area there is a lot of termite activity but the tracks usually wind their way up trees where the termites proceed to busy themselves making a large nest which often later becomes a nest for local birds. Termites also make their way into houses and destroy the inner framework. They can go undetected for a long time and do enormous damage. I have heard of houses having to be demolished because termites had totally destroyed the frame and only the walls were holding the house up. I also read that termite damage in Australia costs $910 million annually.

So what was the message from the termite track? It started a train of thought for me about the habit of these particular termites. The first thing about them is that they don’t just walk across the path or up the tree in the light. They hate the light so they build themselves a nice dark tunnel from which to do their undermining work.

I was reminded of the verse “……….men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19). In Christ we are children of the light and we should beware of any temptation to hide from the light. If there is anything in our life that is hidden, any critical spirit, any unforgiveness, any pride, jealousy, selfishness, sexual sin, anything at all that is contrary to what is pleasing to God, then it has to be brought to the light, confessed and forsaken. If not, it does an undermining work in our life just like the termites do, until eventually we are destroyed or, at the least, crippled by it.

In Song of Solomon 2:15 it says, “Catch us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.” It’s often the small things that we think don’t matter that can do a lot of damage. We are encouraged to be holy. 1 Peter 1:15 says “….be holy in all your conduct because it is written “Be holy for I am holy.”

God does not give us instruction to spoil our fun or to make our lives dull. His desire is for us to live life in all its fullness. Doing things His way will bring us freedom and joy. Get rid of those termites that are “spoiling your vines”, quietly yet purposefully eating away at your freedom and your joy. Be who you are, a child of the light.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that you bought my freedom from the hidden works of darkness. Help me to walk in your light and know the joy of total freedom in you. Amen

Now is the time... To Play It Safe

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths. If you live a life guided by wisdom, you won't limp or stumble as you run. Carry out my instructions; don't forsake them. Guard them, for they will lead you to a fulfilled life. Proverbs 4:10-13 (NLT)

A few months ago news came of two young men in their 20’s who died when part of a glacier in New Zealand collapsed on them. What increases the impact of this tragic event is that it didn’t need to happen. These boys made two obvious mistakes (as far as I can tell from news reports). Firstly they chose not to take a guide who knew the area with them, and secondly they actually ignored warning signs and crossed over safety barriers. I’m sure their parents and friends have asked themselves many times, “Why, why, why?” Such is the impulsiveness of youth. So sad!

King Solomon, known as the wisest man who ever lived took time to write at length, in the book of Proverbs, warning his son about the importance of listening to advice and walking in the ways of wisdom. Read the first 5 chapters of Proverbs and you will see that again and again the writer pleads “listen my son” and “pay attention to my words”. This is always followed with the promise of a good, safe and blessed life if wisdom is adhered to. Isn’t that what each of us ultimately desires? I want to tell you that we can have just that. Not a life without challenges – we need those to make us strong, to test our faith and to build our character – but a life that is uncomplicated by the consequences of sin and folly.

We live in a world that is overtaken with the results of people’s refusal to follow not only God’s ways but also the laws of the land. People wanting to do things their way with disregard for others. Laws are put in place for our safety and the safety of others. If we read and understand God’s word and walk in his ways, not leaning on or trusting in our own understanding, God will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). To walk with God is sometimes scary in that we are led out of our comfort zone, but it is always safe. Staying within his “guard rails” is the place of safety.

God gives us boundaries for our benefit, not for his pleasure. They are to keep us safe and to save us from paying an awful price of grief and shame. If you’ve crossed the boundary, you have a choice to come back inside the fence to safety. Waste no more time, do it today!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, when I am tempted to take matters into my own hands and do it ‘my way’, will you please give me a check in my spirit and remind me that the risk is not worth it. Your way is best. Amen