Study of The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Ground Rules for this study:
1. Resources: A. The Holy Bible (The Word of God), B. Concordance (Strongs) C. Lexicon (Dictionary of Greek Words)
2. No Commentaries: However good they may be, this study is designed for God to teach us from His very own Word, not to study what others have learned.

Format for the Study:
1. Focus will be on 1 Chapter per week (Monday-Friday)
2. Each day will focus on a small portion of each chapter.

Post vs.
1. The posts will consist of 3 versions of the text: ESV and NASB and Greek (1550 Stephanus New Testament)
2. Major words will be posted in English and Greek with their original Greek definition.

Comments
3. Comments are welcome: Please no comments from commentaries...the point of this study is not to restate what other men have stated, but to let God speak to our hearts through the Book of Romans.

Due to an extremely busy schedule today the study will begin on Tuesday Nov. 1 and continue until we are done with the Book of Romans.
This is a very flexible study in terms of timing, if there are tough portions of Scripture that pose many thought provoking questions, we may take more time in those areas before moving on.

Thank you for participating!

In Christ,

David

Romans 3:23-25
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. " ESV

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. " NASB

" 23 παντες γαρ ημαρτον και υστερουνται της δοξης του θεου
24 δικαιουμενοι δωρεαν τη αυτου χαριτι δια της απολυτρωσεως της εν χριστω ιησου
25 ον προεθετο ο θεος ιλαστηριον δια της πιστεως εν τω αυτου αιματι εις ενδειξιν της δικαιοσυνης αυτου δια την παρεσιν των προγεγονοτων αμαρτηματων
26 εν τη ανοχη του θεου προς ενδειξιν της δικαιοσυνης αυτου εν τω νυν καιρω εις το ειναι αυτον δικαιον και δικαιουντα τον εκ πιστεως ιησου" Greek 1550 Stephanus New Testament

The Son

So, what is the point of all of these posts and the pictures in them?

He is the Point! Jesus Christ is the Point!

He came to this "Pale Blue Dot" to Save us, to allow us to return to a right relationship with God!

Our Creator, lowered Himself and served us...What is Love?
1 John 3:16 "By this we know love, that he [Jesus] laid down his life for us."

Listen to what He tells us through Scripture:

Psalm 103:8-14
"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust."

Philippians 2:5-11
"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Isaiah 40:12-18
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the LORD, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?"
Isaiah 40:21-22
"Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;"
Isaiah 40:25-26
"To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power not one is missing."
Isaiah 40:6-8
"A voice says, 'Cry!' And I said, 'What shall I cry?' All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

Psalm 8
"O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 19
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his haniwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

In Christ,

David

The Sun

This Image is of the Planet Venus in front of the Sun. This Image was take from Earth. Venus is about the same size as Earth, but it is a bit smaller. That is what we must also look like compared to the Sun!
This Image is a Close-up of the Sun. The dark areas are cooler than the lighter areas, but honestly, we would not be able to tell that, unless we had some really smart people with some really sophisticated equipment! These are called Solar Jets...don't ask me why, that is just what they are called! But it looks cool, and God made it!
The Sun is 93 Million Miles away from Earth! And it's a good thing too, if it were any closer, we would be toast; and if it were any farther away we would be a big ice cube! It's 100 time the Diameter of Earth and on it's Surface is 11,000 degrees F. That flare on the lower left of the Sun, Earth could easily fit between it and the Sun. Right in that little arch! Light traveling from the Sun to Earth takes anywhere from 7-8 minutes until it hits your skin (feeling like we are getting used light? Me too!). If we could collect and save the GNP (Gross National Product) of the entire U.S. for 7 million years, then give all that money to one local power company; they could run the sun for 1 Second!!! Yup, that's it 1 Second!
Our Sun is actually one of the middle sized stars that are out there, not to big and not to small, just right! There are Stars that if placed where our sun is, they would encompass everything all the way out to and past Pluto!!!
Our Sun is also not the most brilliant of Stars, there are many that are 100 times brighter than the Sun!!!

Light travels at 186,000 miles per second! (I wish I could drive to work that fast!!!)
That's 11,000,600 miles per minute, 669,600,000 miles per hour, and....
5.88 Trillion Miles per Year!!!
That 5.88 Trillion miles is what Really smart people use to measure our Universe! I don't know about you but I can't even fathom how far that is!

The images above were taken from the Swedish Solar Institutes website, www.solarphysics.kva.se/


Thank You LORD Jesus for all that you have provided us with! The Sun at the right distance, and the fact that it continuously declares Your Glory!

In Christ,

David

The Pale Blue Dot

Voyager Space Probe was sent out from Earth in 1977 traveling at 40,000 mph. On Valentines Day in 1990 Scientists from NASA asked Voyager to turn around and photograph one last time all the objects that it had photographed on its way out there. Now being that it was 3.7 Billion Miles away from Earth...that area that it needed to photograph was much to large for just one photo! It needed to take 60 photos to capture all that it had passed! (Each photo was 640,000 pixels and it took each pixel 5 1/2 hours to get back to earth!) This photograph once received many months after it was taken floored many of the NASA Scientists! There in the middle of the grayish brown line was earth! Earth at 3.7 Billion Miles!!!! My how tiny !!!























This lower pic is a blown up version so that you can see it better!


One of the NASA Scientists was Carl Sagan and he had this to say about this photograph:

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light.
Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

A man named Friedrich Schiller said: "The Universe is One of God's thoughts."

With these to statements in mind I must reply:
Jesus Christ came to the "Pale Blue Dot"!
Philippians 2:6-11 Says,
"Who [Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

And Isaiah 40:1, 11, & 27-31 says,
"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God...He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young... Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God'? Have you not known? Have you not heard?The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint."

You see, the Universe Might be One thought for God, but so are You!!!
He, Jesus, came here to this "Pale Blue Dot" for you! He is waiting with open arms, if you would just run to Him and accept His Free Gift of Eternal Life.
Jesus Christ is the Almighty, the Creator, He and He alone is the only one to be Worshiped! He is LORD and Savior of us all!

Thank You Jesus!

In Christ,

David

The Next posts will also be based off of some wonderful pictures of Gods creation.
Then on Monday Nov. 1st I will be doing an indepth study of the Book of Romans! You are all more than welcome to join in. The only requirement is that NO commentaries are to be used...only The Bible, a Concordance, and a Greek Dictionary.

God Bless!

Joseph R. Tanner

To the best of my knowledge, this man is a follower of Jesus Christ! He is a Husband and Father! And He serves the Lord Jesus Christ in repairing the Hubble Space Telescope! (He wrote a letter of support to Louie Giglio, an amazing preacher for Christ.) Yes, He is an astronaut!
In this picture He is servicing the Hubble. It was the second service mission for the Hubble and since then we have received some of the most amazing pictures of what is out there in our Universe...Like the pics in the last two posts!

God Bless you Joe as you Serve The Lord Jesus Christ in Space for NASA!

Thanks,

In Christ,

David

M51 The Whirlpool Galaxy

"And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:16-18

"By his wind the heavens were made fair" Job 26:13

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4

"By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host." Psalm 33:6

"To him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever" Psalm 136:7-9

Please read the previous Post: "X" Structure at the Heart of M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy

In Christ,

David

"X" Structure at the Heart of M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy

This is the Picture that NASA Scientists got back after focusing the Hubble Space Telescope at the Heart of M51 the Whirlpool Galaxy.

NASA has labeled it the "X" Structure.

I think the picture speaks for itself!

"We build a telescope to see what is out there, and God says, 'Good, now build a bigger one.' So we go and build a bigger one to see more things and God says, 'I've just been waiting to show you this! But I have more, build a bigger one!' So we do and God says, 'Check this out, but I have more to show you, build a bigger one!'" Louie Giglio - Indescribable Tour w/Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman

The Bible talks about the Universe, and all that is in it coming out of God's mouth and that He holds it all in the palm of His hand! Just think about how small we are compared to the Earth that we live on...and it is one of the smaller planets of 9 in our solar system...and next to our Sun we are completely dwarfed (The Sun is approximately 100 times bigger in diameter than the earth. Space is measured by a light year...the distance that light travels in 1 year (light moves so fast that it can circle the earth 7 times in 1 second, Light travels at 186,00 miles per second, 11,000,600 miles per minute, 699,600,000 miles per hour, and 5.88 Trillion miles per year)! Our Sun (11,000 degrees F on the surface) is dwarfed is size and brilliance compared to many other stars and it is one of several billion in what we call the Milky Way Galaxy (which is approximately 100,000 light years across, if you were to count 1 star per second it would take you 2,500 years to count all the stars in the Milky Way! Just to give you and Idea of how "Small our galaxy is, it is approximately the same size as a quarter in North America, Milky Way to Universe ~Quarter in North America!). Our Milky Way Galaxy is small compared to many many other galaxies(There are 100s of Billions of Galaxies). M51/NGC9154 the Whirlpool Galaxy is something like 31,000,000 light years away from us.

All that to say, My how tiny we are, but how much we are Loved by God! God was once asked His name but a guy named Moses. God replied, "I AM WHO I AM". In other words the present tense of the verb "to be". God's name is "BE"!

How many times does the Bible refer to us as Beloved? Almost to many to count! Take a look at that word...break it down...there are two words there! "Be" and "Loved", my dear friends, God Loves you! The Great I AM, "BE", Loves YOU!!

Take another look at that picture...God has just been waiting to show us this! Jesus, "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

God is so Awesome and Amazing!! I just love how patiently He waits to show off what He has created to us. Thank you Jesus!

Jesus Christ, I think upon Your sacrifice You became nothing, poured out to death Many times I've wondered at Your gift of life And I'm in that place once again I'm in that place once again

And once again I look upon the cross where You died I'm humbled by Your mercy and I'm broken inside Once again I thank You Once again I pour out my life

Now You are exalted to the highest place King of the heavens, where one day I'll bow But for now, I marvel at Your saving grace And I'm full of praise once again I'm full of praise once again

Thank You for the cross Thank You for the cross Thank You for the cross, my Friend

Once Again: Matt Redman

FYI--That "X" Structure is 11,000 Light years Across and one of those bars in 1,000 Light years in diameter! It is Massive, and it has been staring down at us from the heavens saying, this is it, Christ (I, the Creator) am the way. I have Mercy of Sin and Grace for Sinners. I made the first move, will you accept me?

Do you want to ingore that (the Cross/"X" Structure) or do you want to run to me?

In Christ,

David

Reality #7 Part 2 God Accomplishes Work through You

THIS WILL BE THE FINAL POST ON THIS TOPIC
THIS SERIES STARTED ON JULY 27th WITH THE POST TITLED: DOING GOD'S WILL

God Accomplishes His Work Through You
When you obey God, He will accomplish through you what He has purposed to do. When God does something through your life that only He can do, you will come to know Him more intimately. If you do not obey, you will miss out on some of the most exciting experiences of your life. When God purposes to do something through you, the assignment will have God-sized dimensions. This is because God wants to reveal Himself to you and to those around you. If you can do the work in your own strength, people will not come to know God. However, if God works through you to do what only He can do, you and those around you will come to know Him. Jesus said, "But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God." (John 3:21).
The Holy Spirit will never misunderstand the Father's will for your life. The Father has a purpose to work out through your life. In order that you not miss it, He places His Spirit in you. The Spirit's job is to guide you according to the will of the Father. Then the Spirit enables you to do God's will. You are completely dependent on God for the knowledge and the ability to accomplish His purposes. That is why your relationship to Him is so important. That is why you need to wait until you have heard a word from Him about His purposes and ways.
Jesus is your example of One who never failed to know and do the will of His Father. Every solitary thing the Father purposed to do through His life, the Lord Jesus did it immediately. What was the key to His success? He was always rightly related to the Father! If you walk in a consistent relationship with God's provision for you--the Holy Spirit, and His own presence in your life--then you should never come to a time that you do not know the will of God. There should never be a time when you are not enabled to carry our the will of God.
In Jesus you have a picture of a solitary life in a love relationship with God, consistently living out that relationship. He is the perfect example. You and I will come quickly to the conclusion that we are a long way from that. True! But the Christ who lived His life in complete obedience is fully present in you to enable you to know and do His will. We need to adjust our lives to God and consistently live out that relationship with absolute dependence on Him. He will never fail to pull your life into the middle of His purpose and enable you to do it. The God-sized dimensions of an assignment from God create the crisis of belief. You have to believe that God is who He says He is and that He can and will do what He says He will do. When you obey Him, you have to allow Him to do what He has said. He is the One who accomplishes the assignment, but He does it through you.

Moses: Only in the act of obedience did Moses begin to experience the full nature of God. What he began to know about God grew out of his obedience to God. In Moses' life we can see this pattern of God speaking, Moses obeying, and God accomplishing what He purposed to do. We see this pattern throughout Moses' life:
1. God invited Moses to join Him in what He was doing to deliver Israel.
2. God told Moses what he was to do.
3. Moses obeyed.
4. God accomplished what He purposed to do.
5. Moses and those around him came to know God more clearly and intimately.
For instance, when the people stood between the Red Sea and the oncoming Egyptian army, God told Moses to hold his staff over the sea. Moses obeyed. God parted the sea and the people crossed on dry ground (Exodus 14:1-25). Then Miriam led the people in a hymn of praise describing their new understanding of God. When the people were thirsty and had no water to drink, they complained to Moses. God told Moses to strike a rock with the staff. Moses obeyed, and God caused water to flow from the rock (Exodus 17:1-7). We see this pattern in Moses' life again and again.
Men of Faith: When Noah obeyed, God preserved his family and repopulated the earth. When Abraham obeyed, God gave him a son and built a nation. When David obeyed, God made him a king. When Elijah obeyed. God sent down fire and consumed a sacrifice. These people of faith came to know God by experience when they obeyed Him, and He accomplished His work through them.
The Disciples: Luke records a beautiful experience of Jesus' disciples that follows this same pattern. Jesus invited seventy (seventy two, in the NIV) to join Him in the Father's work. The disciples obeyed and experienced God accomplishing through them some things they knew only God could do. Jesus gave these followers specific directions. They obeyed Him and experienced God working through them to heal and cast out demons. Jesus told them that their own salvation ought to bring more joy than the submission of the spirits (v. 20). Jesus praised God the Father for revealing Himself to these followers (vv. 21-22). Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it." (Luke 10:23-24). These disciples were blessed. They had been chosen especially by God to be involved in His work. What they saw, heard, and came to know about God was something even prophets and kings wanted to experience and did not. These disciples were blessed!
You, too, will be blessed when God does a special, God-sized work through you. You will come to know Him in a way that will bring rejoicing to your life. When other people see you experiencing God that way, they are going to want to know how they, too, can experience God that way. Be prepared to point them to God. If you are obedient, God will work some wonderful things through you. You will need to be very careful that any testimony about what God has done only gives glory to Him. Pride may cause you to want to tell your experience because it makes you feel special. That will be a continuing tension. You will want to declare the wonderful deeds of the Lord, but you must avoid any sense of pride. Therefore: "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).

You come to know God
God reveals Himself to His people by what He does. When God works through you to accomplish His purposes, you come to know God by experience. You also come to know God when He meets a need in your life. In Scripture when God did something through an obedient person or people, they came to know Him in new and more intimate ways. God revealed His personal names to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Jesus expressed Himself to His disciples by saying:
1. "I am the bread of life." John 6:35
2. "I am the light of the world." John 8:12
3. "I am the door." John 10:9
4. "I am the good shepherd." John 10:11
5. "I am the resurrection and the life." John 11:25
6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14:6
7. "I am the true vine." John 15:1
Jesus identified Himself with the I AM (name of God given to Moses at the burning bush) of the Old Testament. Knowing and experiencing Jesus in these ways requires that you "believe in Him" (Have faith in Him). For instance, when He says to you, "I am the way," what you do next in you relationship with Him will determine if you come to experience Him as "the way" in your own life. When you believe Him, adjust your life to Him, and obey what He says next, you come to know and experience Him as "the Way." This is true about everything God reveals to you day by day. As you follow Him obediently, He works in and through you to reveal Himself to you and those around you.

God is at work in the world reconciling a lost world to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. God takes the initiative to invite you to be involved with Him. When you obey Him, He accomplishes His work through you in such a way that you and everyone else know that God has been at work. When you experience God working in and through you, you will come to know Him more fully. That is exactly what Jesus had in mind when He said, "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). You come to know Him as you experience Him in your life.

Psalm 119:33-35
Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.

Prayer
Father God,
I want to experience You. I want to see You working through my life. I know that this means I will face a crisis of belief day by day. I must trust You to be who You say You are and to do what You have said You will do. I must adjust my life to You. I will obey You. Work through me to accomplish all that You desire to accomplish. Do not let me give in to unpromising circumstances when You are speaking to me. Do not let me be impatient. Show me where I have been disobedient. Help me trust that You are always doing what is best for me. Give me patience to let You prepare me for the task You have assigned me. Place the Holy Spirit in my life to direct me according to Your ways, Your purposes, and Your work. Make our love relationship even more intimate than it already is. Thank You, dear Lord, for being so close to me. I Love You!
Amen.

In Christ,

David

[I Pray] "that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:16-21

Reality #7 God Accomplishes His Work

John 3:21
"But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God."

Isaiah 46:10-11
"'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose...I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it."

God Accomplishes His Work
When we experience God's invitation to join Him, we often insist upon seeing some kind of sign. It is as if we are saying, "Lord, prove to me this is You, and then I will obey." When Moses stood before the burning bush and received his invitation to join God, God told him that he would receive a sign that God sent him. God told Moses, "This shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt you shall serve God on this mountain" (Exodus 3:12). In other words: "Moses, you obey Me. I will deliver Israel through you. You will come to know Me as your Deliverer, and you will stand on this mountain and worship Me." God's affirmation that He had sent Moses was going to come after Moses obeyed, not before. This is most frequently the case in Scripture. The affirmation that comes after the obedience. God is love. Trust Him and believe Him. Because you love Him, obey Him. Then you will so fellowship with Him that you will come to know Him intimately. He will work through you to accomplish God-sized assignments that will affirm His presence and work in your life. That affirmation will be a joyous time for you!

What if the "Door" closes?
Suppose you sense the call of God to a task or to a place or to an assignment. You set about to do it and everything goes wrong. Often people will say, "Well, I guess that just was not God's will." God calls you into a relationship with Himself. Be very careful how you interpret circumstances. Many times we jump to a conclusion too quickly. God is moving us in one direction to tell us what He is about to do. We immediately jump to our own conclusion about what He is doing and when He is going to do it because our conclusion sounds so logical. We start following the logic of our own reasoning, but then nothing seems to work out. We have a tendency to leave the relationship and take things into our own hands. DON'T DO THAT!!!!
Most of the time when God calls you or gives a direction, His call is not what He wants you to do for Him. He is telling you what He is about to do where you are. As an example of this, examine the record of the apostle Paul's ministry:
Acts 16:6-10
The Macedonian Call
"And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them."

Already on the Damascus road, God had told Paul that He was going to reach the Gentiles through him. God, not Paul, was going to reach the Gentiles. Paul started to go in one direction and the Spirit stopped him (Acts 16:6-10). He started to go another direction. Again, the Spirit stopped him. What was the original plan of God? To reach the Gentiles. What was Paul's problem? He was trying to figure out what he ought to do, and the "door" of opportunity closed. Did the door close? No. God was trying to say, "Listen to me, Paul. God and sit in Troas until I tell you where you are supposed to go." In Troas, Paul had the vision to go over to Macedonia and help them. What was happening? God's plan was to turn the gospel to the west toward Greece and Rome. God was at work in Philippi and wanted Paul to join Him in His work there.
When you begin to follow and circumstances seem to close doors of opportunity, go back to the Lord and clarify what God said. Better yet, always try to make sure on the front end of a sense of call exactly what God is saying. He most often is not calling you to a task only, but to a relationship. Through that relationship He is going to do something through your life. If you start off in a direction and everything is stopped, go back and clarify what God has said. Do not deny what God has said, but clarify what God has said. Moses had to do that constantly. He obeyed God and spoke to Pharaoh, and everything went wrong. Moses didn't quit. He went to the Lord to clarify what was happening. God began to give him directions about the plagues He was bringing on Egypt. Pharaoh seemed to be getting more and more difficult to deal with. Moses daily sought God's directions and obeyed them. Later Moses could look back and see God's handiwork in all that took place. God delivered Israel from the Egyptians in such a way that Israel, Egypt, and all the surrounding nations knew that God had done it.

When things seem to go wrong after you take a step of obedience:
1. Clarify what God said and identify what may have been your "additions" to what He said.
2. Keep in place what God has said.
3. Let Him work out the details in His timing.
4. Do all you know to do.
5. Then wait on the Lord until He tells you what to do next.

God's greatest single task is to get His people adjusted to Himself. He needs time to shape us until we are exactly what He wants us to be. Suppose you sense that God is going to do something great because of what He has said in His Word and prayer. You sense He is going to do it because of the way circumstances are working out, and other believers (church) agree. Then six months pass and you still haven't seen anything great. Don't get negative and depressed and discouraged. The God who initiates His work in a relationship with you is the One Himself who guarantees to complete it. Watch to see what God is doing in you and in the people around you to prepare you for what He is going to do. The key is your relationship with God.

Slow Going
Does God seem to be working slowly in your life? Jesus had been with His disciples about three years when He said: "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come" (John 16:12-13).
Jesus had more He needed to teach the disciples, but they were not ready to receive it. Jesus knew, however, that the Holy Spirit would continue to guide these disciples into truth on God's timetable.
You may be saying, "God, hurry up and make me mature."
And God is saying, "I'm moving just as fast in your life as you will allow me. When you are ready for your next lesson, I will bring a new truth into your life." If God does not seem to be giving you a new assingnment, you may want to ask yourself these questions:
1. Am I responding to all God already is leading me to do?
2. Have I obeyed all I already know to be His will?
3. Do I really believe that He loves me and will always do what is best and right?
4. Am I willing to wait patiently on His timing and obey everything I know to do in the meantime?

Grass that is here today and gone tomorrow does not require much time to mature. A big oak tree that lasts for generations requires much more time to grow and mature. God is concerned about your life through eternity. Allow Him to take all the time He needs to shape you for His purposes. Larger assignments will require longer periods of preparation.

Would you be willing for God to take all the time He needs to prepare you for the assignments He may have purposed for your life? If so, spend some time right now in prayer telling Him so.

Next Post: God Accompishes His Work: Through You

In Christ,

David

Reality #6 Part 5 More on the Cost and Blessings of Obedience

Disobedience is Costly
Disobedience, is never taken lightly by God. Jonah's disobedience almost cost him his life. Moses' murder of the Egyptian cost him forty years in the wilderness. David's sin with Bathsheba cost the life of his son. Paul's early ministry was greatly hindered because of his disobedience. Many people were afraid to get near him because of his reputation as a persecutor of Christians. God is interested in developing your character. At times He lets you proceed in your disobedience, but He will never let you go too far without discipline to bring you back. In your relationship with God, He may let you make a wrong decision. Then the Spirit of God causes you to recognize that it is not God's will. He guides you back to the right path. He will clarify what He wants. He may even take the circumstance of your disobedience and work that together for good (Romans 8:28) as He corrects you and teaches you His ways. Even though God forgives and often gives second chances, you must not take disobedience lightly. Sometimes He does not give a second chance. Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, were disobedient in offering unholy incense to the Lord; and God struck them dead (Leviticus 10). Moses stole God's glory in front of all Israel and struck the rock saying, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" (Numbers 20:10). Notice the word "we." God was the One who would bring water from the rock. Moses took God's glory, and God refused to take away the consequences of that disobedience. He refused to allow Moses to go with Israel into the Promised Land. With that experience God gave no second chance to get it right.

Obedience Provides Future Blessing
Although obedience is costly, it is always worth the cost. In fact whenever you are tempted to consider the cost too high, you need to consider what it will cost you not to do the will of God. That cost is even greater.
When you obey, God will accomplish what He purposed, and you will be overwhelmed with the experience of God's power and presence. You and those around you will come to a greater knowledge of God through the experience.

My Lord Jesus Christ,
You paid such a price for my sin. How can I refuse to pay any price You ask in obedience to You? I surrender myself now to total obedience to whatever You ask of me. Show me where You are at work. Give me faith to trust that what You have shown me is true. Teach me to pray every situation through until You accomplish what You have shown me You would accomplish in the situation. Teach me to trust my family to Your loving care. I know You in a personal love relationship. I believe every word You give me and trust You to bring each work You show me to completion. I will obey You and join You in that work. In so doing, I will encounter and experience You. Give me faith and courage to pay the cost in every area of my life to obey You fully.
In Jesus Holy and Precious name,
Amen.

In Christ,

David

Reality #6 Part 4 The Importance and Cost of Obedience

Obedience is very important. If you know that God loves you, you should never question a directive from Him. It will always be right and best. When He gives you a directive, you are not just to observe it, discuss it, or debate it. You are to obey it. Notice what the Scriptures say about obedience:

Blessings for Obedience
"If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth...The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you." Deuteronomy 28:1,8

Curses for Disobedience
"However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you...The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him."

"But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you, that it may go well with you." Jeremiah 7:23

The Wise and Foolish Builders
"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete." Luke 6:46-49

"Jesus answered, 'My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'" John 7:16-17

God blesses those who are obedient to Him (Deuteronomy 18:1-14). The benefits of obedience are beyond our imagination; but they include being God's people (Jeremiah 7:23), having a solid foundation when the storms of life come against you (Luke 6:46-49), and knowing spiritual truth (John 7:16-17).
Rebellion against God is the opposite of obedience. Disobedience is a serious rejection of God's will. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 speaks of some of the costs of disobedience. (For further study on the results of obedience and disobedience, see Deuteronomy 30 and 32.)

The Cost of Obedience

Obedience, however, is costly to you and to those around you. You cannot know and do the will of God without paying the price of adjustment and obedience. Willingness to pay the price of following His will is one of the major adjustments you will have to make. At this very point "many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" (John 6:66). This also is a point where churches will not know and experience the fulfilling of God's purposes and will through them because they are not willing to pay the price of obedience. Those who are willing to pay the price and follow in obedience will experience the power and presence of God working through them.
Saul, for instance, was established in the religious power structure of Jerusalem. He had taken a lead in searching out Christians and having them imprisoned or executed. On his way to Damascus, Saul (later named Paul) had an encounter with the living Christ. The resurrected Christ told Saul that he had been chosen to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He had to make a total about-face in direction. He went from persecuting Christians to proclaiming that Jesus was the Christ.
God will ask you to follow Him in ways that will require adjustments in your plans and directions. For Paul the adjustment was costly. It even put his life at risk with the Jews. The adjustments and obedience required of you will be costly as well. Sometimes obedience to God's will leads to opposition and misunderstanding. Because of his obedience, Paul suffered much for the cause of Christ. The list of beatings, imprisonments, and danger sound like more than one person could bear. He concluded on letter by saying, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus" (Galatians 6:17). Paul had not had these experiences before he began to do the will of his Lord. Obedience was costly to him. Even so, Paul still could say: "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Philippians 3:10-12).
The apostle Paul revealed the adjustments that he made to do the will of God when he said, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22). Your adjustments and obedience to Christ will be costly as well. The Scriptures are full of examples of costly adjustments and obedience:
1. Moses and the Israelites (Exodus 5:1-21)
2. Jesus and Mary (John 19:17-37)
3. Paul and Jason (Acts 17:1-9)
You must not overlook this very real element in knowing and doing the will of God. God will reveal His plans and purposes to you, but your obedience will cost you and others around you. When, for instance, a pastor surrenders his life to missions, it may cost those around him (his family, his church) more than what it will cost him. If he leads his church to become directly involved in doing missions, it may cost some in the church more than it will cost the pastor.

Adjustments in Prayer and the Cost
When you encounter a directive from God, you will often experience a crisis in prayer life. At those times I learn more about prayer than almost any other time. There are some things that only prayer can bring about. Often God waits until we ask. The crisis was this: Was I willing to pray until God brought it about? Mark 11:24 has been a prayer promise that has been challenging to me regarding the relationship of faith and prayer: "Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." This verse is sometimes used to teach a "name-it-and-claim-it" theology. You decide what you want. You name that in Your request, claim it, and it's Yours. That is a self-centered theology. Remember that only God takes the initiative. He gives you the desire to do His will (Philippians 2:13). His Holy Spirit guides you to pray according to God's will (Romans 8:26-28). The God-centered approach would be to let God lead you to pray according to His will (in the name and character of Jesus). Believe that what He has lead you to pray, He Himself will bring to pass. Then continue praying in faith and watching for it to come to pass. When God encounters you, you face a crisis of belief that may require major adjustments in your life. You need to learn how to pray. Prayer will be exceedingly costly to you. You may need to let God wake you up in the middle of the night to pray. You may need to spend much time in prayer. Times may come when you pray into the night or even all night. Becoming a person of prayer will require a major adjustment of your life to God. Prayer will always be a part of the obedience. It is in a prayer relationship that God gives further direction. Another cost will come as you try to guide the people around you to pray. Most of our churches have not learned how to pray together. The greatest untapped resource that I know of is the united prayer of God's people. Jesus, quoting from Isaiah 56:7, said, "My house is a house of prayer" (Luke 19:46). Helping your church become a praying church will be a rewarding experience. Every church needs to be a praying church!

Second Chances
You may ask, "When a person disobeys God's will, does God give him or her a second chance?"
The answer is, Yes, sometimes! He does not always give second chances, and He is not obligated to. I am comforted to know that God often gives a second chance. When God had a plan to call Nineveh to repentance, He asked Jonah to join Him in His work. Jonah disobeyed because he was prejudiced against these "pagan enemies." Jonah would have rather seen God carry out the destruction of the city. Disobedience to God is very serious. Jonah went through the trauma of being thrown into a raging sea and spending three days in the belly of a big fish. Jonah confessed and repented of his disobedience. Then God gave him a second chance to obey. The second time Jonah did obey (though reluctantly). On his first day Jonah preached a one-sentence message, and God used the message to call 120,000 people to repentance. Jonah said, "I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm" (Jonah 4:2). God's response to Jonah and Nineveh taught Jonah much about how deeply God cares for all peoples and wants them to come to repentance.
Some of the great people of God were broken by sin and disobedience, yet God did not give up on them. If God allowed people only one mistake, Moses would never have come to be the person he was. He made several mistakes (for example, Exodus 2:11-15). Abraham started out with a great walk of faith, but He went into Egypt and blew it-more than once (for example, Genesis 12:10-20). David muffed it (for example, 2 Samuel 11), and so did Peter (for example, Matthew 26:69-75). Saul (Paul) even began his "service for God" by persecuting Christians (Acts 9:1-2).

More on the Cost and Blessings in the next post.

In Christ,

David

Reality #6 Part 3 Joining God Requires Obedience

John 14:23
"Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"

Luke 14:33
"So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

You cannot stay where you are and go with God! You cannot continue doing things your way and accomplish God's purposes in His ways. Once you have adjusted your life to God, His purposes, and His ways you are prepared to obey Him. Earlier we talked about the relationship between love and obedience. We found that obedience is the outward expression of love of God. Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. He who does not love Me does not keep My words" (John 14:15,24).
1. Obedience is the outward expression of your love of God.
2. The reward for obedience and love is that He will reveal Himself to you.
3. If you have an obedience problem, you have a love problem.
4. If you love Him, you will obey Him!

Jesus said, "For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50). Jesus clearly said that by obedience a person indicates his love relationship with God (John 14:15-21).
James, in his letter to the believers, went to great lengths to indicate that faith that does not obey in actions is dead, or has no life. When the disciples obeyed Jesus, they saw and experienced God's mighty power working in and around them. When they did not act in faith and do His will, they did not experience His mighty work.

The Million Dollar Question: What is Obedience?

Servants of God do what He directs. They obey Him. The servant does not have the option of deciding whether or not he wants to obey. Choosing not to obey is rebellion, and such disobedience will bring serious consequences. Many people are so self-centered they want to do their own "thing." They do not stop to consider what obedience may mean in their lives. Jesus told a parable about obedience: The Parable of the Two Sons: "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go." Matthew 21:28-30
Which son did the will of his father? Was it the one who said no but later repented, or the one who said yes but never went? The first son is the one who obeyed the father. Obedience means doing what is commanded.

Obey what you already know to be God's will

Some people want God to give them an assignment. They vow to do whatever He asks. But when God observes their lives, He notices they have not obeyed in the things He already has told them to do. God gave the Ten Commandments. Are you obeying? Jesus has told you to love your enemies. Are you able to do that? Jesus ordered the church to make disciples of all nations. Are you doing all you know to obey Him? God tells you through Scripture to live in unity with your Christian brothers and sisters. Do love and harmony characterize your fellowship? God's commands are not given so you can pick and choose the ones you want to obey and forget the rest. He expects you to obey ALL His commands out of your love relationship with Him. When He sees you are faithful and obedient in a little, He will be able to trust you with more.

God has always been at work in our world. He is now at work where you are. When God is ready for you to be involved with Him in an assignment, He always will take the initiative to come to you and reveal what He is doing, or what He is about to do. When He does, this will be His invitation for you to join Him. Joining Him will require major adjustments of you life to Him so He can accomplish His will through you. When you know what God has said, know what He is about to do, and have adjusted your life to Him, there is yet one remaining necessary response to God. TO EXPERIENCE HIM AT WORK IN AND THROUGH YOU, YOU MUST OBEY HIM. WHEN YOU OBEY HIM, HE WILL ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK THROUGH YOU; AND YOU WILL COME TO KNOW HIM BY EXPERIENCE.
You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. After God has taken the initiative to involve you in His work, you believe Him and adjust your life to Him. This entire process may happen very quickly or it may be extended over a lengthy period of time. The adjustments, however, must be made. Only then do you get to the place of obedience. You must obey Him first. Then He will accomplish His work through you. When God does a God-sized work through your life, you come to know Him intimately by experience.

Moment of Truth
In many ways, obedience is your moment of truth. What you do will:
1. Reveal what you believe about Him.
2. Determine whether you will experience His mighty work in you and through you.
3. Determine whether you will come to know Him more intimately.

When you come to a moment of truth, you must choose whether to obey God. You cannot obey Him unless you believe and trust Him. You cannot believe and trust Him unless you love Him. You cannot love Him unless you know Him. Each "new" command or assignment will require a new knowledge and understanding of Him. The Holy Spirit will teach you about Jesus so you can trust Him and obey Him. Then you will experience Him in new ways. This is how you grow in Him.
"And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says 'I know him' but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." 1 John 2:3-6
Jesus stated it a different way when He said:
I Never Knew You: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" Matthew 7:21-23

Next time: The importance and cost of obedience

In Christ,

David

Reality #6 Part 2 Adjustments, Surrender, and Dependence

Different Kinds of Adjustments

What kind of adjustments are required? Trying to answer that question is like trying to list all the things God might ask you to do. The list could be endless. I can, however, point you to some examples and give you some general categories of adjustments that may be required.
1. In your circumstances (like job, home, finances, and others)
2. In your relationships (family, friends, business associates, and others)
3. In your thinking (prejudices, methods, your potential, and others)
4. In your commitments (to family, church, job, plans, tradition, and others)
5. In your actions (how you pray, give, serve, and others)
6. In your beliefs (about God, His purposes, His ways, your relationship to Him, and others)

The list could go on and on. The major adjustment will come at the point of acting on your faith. When you face the crisis of belief, you must decide what you believe about God. That mental decision may be the easy part. The hard part is adjusting your life to God and taking an action that demonstrates your faith. You may be called upon to attempt things that only God can do, where formerly you may have attempted only that which you knew you could do.

Sometimes an adjustment may involve several of these areas at once. For instance, Peter was a faithful Jew. He only ate kosher food. He had no dealings with "unclean" Gentiles. One day on the housetop, God interrupted Peter with a vision. God had to convince Peter that all He had created was not to be called unclean. Peter then was told to go with some Gentiles to preach to Cornelius and his household. Peter's experience with Cornelius probably required adjustments in Peter's thinking and beliefs about what is clean and unclean, his commitments to the traditions of the Jews, and his actions regarding fellowship with Gentiles (Acts 10:1-20). Peter made the necessary adjustments and obeyed God. When he did, God worked through him to bring Cornelius's whole household to Christ. Being able to place a title on an adjustment is not as important as your identifying what change God wants you to make to Him, His purposes, or His ways. He will help you know what you must do. Then you must choose to make the adjustment.

Absolute Surrender
God frequently requires adjustments in areas you have never considered in the past. You may have heard someone say something like this: "Don't ever tell God something you will not do. That is what He will ask you to do." God is not looking for ways to make you "squirm." He does, however, want to be Lord of your life. Whenever you identify a place where you refuse to allow His Lordship, that is a place He will go to work. He is interested in absolute surrender. God may or may not require you to do that very thing you identified, but He will keep working until you are willing for Him to be Lord of all! Because God loves you, His will is always best! Any adjustment God expects you to make is for your good. As you follow Him, the time may come that your life and future may depend on your adjusting quickly to God's directives. The adjusting is always to a Person. You adjust your life to God. You adjust your viewpoints to be like His. You adjust your ways to be like His ways. After you make the necessary adjustments, He will tell you what to do next to obey Him. When you obey Him, you will experience Him doing through you something only God can do.
Some people question whether major adjustments are always necessary. Anytime you go from where you are to where God is working, from your way of thinking to God's way of thinking, from your ways to God's ways, from your purposes to His purposes, a Major adjustment will be required. Now, you may make some adjustments at a point in you life so that you will not have to make further major adjustments when God gives you the next assignment. Sooner or later you will have to make the major adjustments to join Him.

Total Dependence on God
Another adjustment that is a part of knowing and doing the will of God is that of coming to a total dependence on God to complete what He wants to do through you. Jesus said our relationship to Him would be like a vine and its branches. He said, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). When you are God's servant, you must remain within that intimate relationship in order for Him to complete His work through you. You must depend on God alone. The adjustment requires moving from doing work for God according to your abilities, your gifts, your likes and dislikes, and your goals to being totally dependent on God and His working and His resources. This is a major adjustment! It is never easy to make. Read the following Scriptures and notice why you must depend on God to carry out His purposes.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." 1 Corinthians 15:10

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20

"The LORD of hosts has sworn: 'As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.'" Isaiah 14:24

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it." Isaiah 46:9-11

Without God at work in you, you can do nothing to bear kingdom fruit. As you are crucified with Christ, He lives through you to accomplish His purposes by His grace. When God purposes to do something, He guarantees that it will come to pass. He is the One who will accomplish what He purposes to do. If you depend on anything other than God, you will be asking for failure in kingdom terms.

Waiting on the Lord
Sometimes as you begin making adjustments, God will require that you wait on Him. This is not because God cannot keep up with you or that He does not know what to do next. God is interested in a love relationship with you. Your waiting on Him develops your absolute dependence on Him. Your waiting on Him assures that you will act on His timing and not your own. The Scriptures frequently commend waiting on the Lord:

"O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch." Psalm 5:3

"O Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20

"Wait for the LORD and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land; you will look on when the wicked are cut off." Psalm 37:34

"But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer." Psalm 38:15

"But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

You may think of waiting as a passive, inactive time. Waiting on the Lord is anything but inactive. While you wait on Him, you will be praying with a passion to know Him, His purposes, and His ways. You will be watching circumstances and asking God to interpret them by revealing to you His perspective. You will be sharing with other believers to find out what God is saying to them. As you wait on the Lord, you will be very active in asking, seeking, and knocking: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8).
While you wait, continue doing the last thing God told you to do. In waiting, you are shifting the responsibility of the outcome to God--where it belongs. Then when God gives you specific guidance, He will do through you more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on Him is always worth the wait. His timing and His ways are always right. You must depend on Him to guide you in His way and in His timing to accomplish His purpose.

In Christ,

David

Reality #6 Joining God Requires Major Adjustments

Luke 9:23-24
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus
"And he said to all, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.'"

Major Adjustments
Many of us want God to speak to us and give us an assignment. However, we are not interested in making any major adjustments in our lives. Biblically, that is impossible. Every time God spoke to people in the Scripture about something He wanted to do through them, major adjustments were necessary. They had to adjust their lives to God. Once the adjustments were made, God accomplished His purposes through those He called.

2nd Critical Turning Point
The first turning point in your knowing and doing the will of God was the crisis of belief--you must believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do. Without faith in God, you will make the wrong decision at this first turning point. Adjusting your life to God is the second critical turning point. Making the adjustment of your life to God is also a turning point. If you choose to make the adjustment, you can go on to obedience. If you refuse to make the adjustment, you could miss what God has in store for your life.
Once you have come to believe God, you demonstrate your faith by what you do. Some action is required. This action is one of the major adjustments we are going to focus on. Your obedience also will be a part of the action required. Your adjustments and obedience will be costly to you and those around you.

You can't stay where you are and go with God
When God speaks to you, revealing what He is about to do, that revelation is your invitation to adjust your life to Him. Once you have adjusted your life to Him, His purposes, and His ways, you are in a position to obey. Adjustments prepare you for obedience. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time. That is true throughout Scripture.
1. Noah: Could not continue life as usual and build an ark at the same time. (Genesis 6)
2. Abram: Could not stay in Ur or Haran and father a nation in Canaan. (Genesis 12:1-8)
3. Moses: Could not stay on the back side of the desert herding sheep and stand before Pharaoh at the same time. (Exodus 3)
4. David: Had to leave his sheep to become king. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
5. Amos: Had to leave the sycamore trees in order to preach in Israel (Amos 7:14-15)
6. Jonah: Had to leave his home and overcome a major prejudice in order to preach in Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2; 4:1-11)
7. Peter, Andrew, James, and John: Had to leave their fishing businesses in order to follow Jesus. (Matthew 4:18-22)
8. Matthew: Had to leave his tax collector's booth to follow Jesus. (Matthew 9:9)
9. Saul (later Paul): Had to completely change directions in his life in order to be used of God to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 9:1-19)

Enormous changes and adjustments had to be made! Some had to leave family and country. Others had to drop prejudices and change preferences. Others had to leave behind life goals, ideals, and desires. Everything had to be yielded to God and the entire life adjusted to Him. The moment the necessary adjustments were made, God began to accomplish His purposes through the individuals. Each one, however, learned that adjusting one's life to God is well worth the cost. You may be thinking: But God will not ask me to make major adjustments. If you look to Scripture for your understanding of God, you will see that God most certainly will require adjustments of His people. He even required major adjustments of His own Son: "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus emptied Himself of position and wealth in heaven in order to join the Father in providing redemption through His death on the cross--that was a major adjustment!
If you want to be a disciple--a follower--or Jesus, you have no choice. You will have to make major adjustments in your life to follow God. Following your Master requires adjustments in your life. Until you are ready to make any adjustment necessary to follow and obey what God has said, you will be of little use to God. Your greatest single difficulty in following God may come at the point of the adjustment. Our tendency is to want to skip the adjustment and go from believing God to obedience. If you want to follow Him, you don't have that choice. His ways are so different from yours. God says, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). The only way to follow Him will require an adjustment of your life to Him and His ways.

2 Examples: 1 Refusal to adjust and 1 Major Adjustment

The Rich young ruler refused to Adjust
The rich young ruler wanted eternal life, but he didn't make the necessary adjustments to Jesus (Luke 18:18-27). His money and wealth were more important. Jesus knew that he could not love God completely and love his money at the same time (Matthew 6:24). Jesus asked the young man to put away the thing that had become his god--his wealth. The young ruler refused to make the necessary adjustment, and he missed out on experiencing eternal life. The rich young ruler's love of money and his greed made him an idolater (Ephesians 5:5). He missed coming to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom God had sent. He wanted eternal life, but he refused to make the necessary adjustment of his life to the true God. Many people may face some of the same struggle today. Prosperity and the love of the things of the world may tempt you to refuse to adjust your life to God. The love for money and things can become a substitute for a love relationship with God. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." (Matthew 6:24). This will be a major adjustment that many must make in order to be rightly related to their true Mater, the heavenly Father.

Elisha made the Major Adjustment
Elisha responded very differently (1 Kings 19:15-21). Elijah was told to select Elisha as his successor. He found Elisha in a field plowing with twelve yoke of oxen. When Elisha heard God's call through Elijah, he made major adjustments. He left his family and career (farming) in order to follow God's call. You have heard the phrase about "burning your bridges behind you." Well, Elisha burned his farm equipment and killed his twenty-four oxen. He then cooked the meat and with it fed the people of the community. He was not about to turn back! When Elisha made the necessary adjustments, he was in a position to obey God. As a result, God worked through Elisha to perform some of the greatest signs and miracles recorded in the Old Testament (2 Kings 2-13). Elisha had to make the adjustments on the front end of his call. Not until he made the adjustments was God able to work through him to accomplish the miracles.
No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to Him! Do you want to be wholly yielded, adjusted, and obedient to God? When God invites you to join Him, the task will have such God-sized dimensions you will face a crisis of belief. Your response will first require faith. Faith will be demonstrated by action. The first action will involve the adjustment of your life to God. The second action will be obedience to what God asks you to do. You cannot go on to obedience without first making the adjustments.

In Christ,

David

Reality #5 Part 3 What you do tells what you Believe

What You Do Tells What You Believe

When God speaks to a person, revealing His plans and purposes, it will always cause a crisis of belief. What you believe about God will determine what you do and how you live. What you do reveals what you believe about God, regardless of what you say. When God reveals what He has purposed to do, you face a crisis--a decision time. God and the world can tell from your response what you really believe about God.

David's Faith Demonstrated
1 Samuel 16:12-13
"And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, 'Arise, anoint him, for this is he.' Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah."

Here God chose David and had Samuel anoint him to become the next king over Israel. In 1 Samuel 17 God brought David into the middle of His activity. While Saul was still king, the Israelites were at war with the Philistines. Still a young boy (likely 9-12 years of age), David was sent by his father to visit his brothers in the army. When David arrived, Goliath (a giant soldier nine feet tall) challenged Israel to send one man to fight him. The losing nation would become the slaves of the winner. Israel's army was terrified (Interesting note: At this period in time Israel didn't have iron technology and the Philistines did, It is quite possible that the only swords that Israel had were Sauls and Jonathans!). David asked in amazement, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (vs.26). David faced a crisis of belief. He may have realized that God had brought him to the battlefield and had prepared him for this assignment.
David said he would fight this giant. He stated his belief, "The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (v. 37). David refused to take the normal weapons of war. Instead he took a sling and five smooth stones. He said to Goliath, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand...that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands" (vs. 45-47). David killed Goliath, and Israel went on to victory.

Sarai's lack of Faith
God called Abram and promised to make his offspring as numerous as the stars. Abram questioned God about this promise since he remained childless into his old age. God reaffirmed, "One who will come from your own body shall be your heir...And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:4,6). Abram's wife Sarai was in her mid-seventies at this time. She knew she was past childbearing years, so she decided she would have to "build a family" in a different way. She gave her maid to Abram as a wife and asked for a child through her. Abram consented, and Ishmael was born to Hagar a year later. Sarai's actions indicated what she believed about God. Though Abram was commended for his faith, in this experience he joined with Sarai in trying to achieve God's purpose in man's ways.
Do you see how Sarai's actions told what she really believed about God? She did not have the faith to believe that God could do the impossible and give her a child at seventy-seven. Her belief about God was limited by her own human reason. This act of unbelief was very costly. Ishmael caused Abram and Sarai much grief in their old age. Ishmael and his Arab descendants have lived in hostility toward Isaac and the Jews from that time until today. What you do in response to God's invitation really does indicate what you believe about God.

Actions Speak
When God invites you to join Him and you face a crisis of belief, what you do next tells what you believe about God. Your actions really do speak louder than words. When the two blind men demonstrated that they believed Jesus was merciful and that He was the Messiah (Son of David), Jesus healed them according to their faith (Matthew 9:27-31). A woman who had been sick for years believed that just a touch of Jesus' garment would allow His healing power to flow to her. She was willing to risk public ridicule in order to experience His healing power. She acted in faith, and Jesus healed her (Matthew 9:20-22).
The disciples were caught in the middle of a storm on the sea. Jesus rebuked them, not for their human tendency to fear, but for their failure to recognize His presence, protection, and power (Matthew 8:23-27). In this case their actions revealed their unbelief rather than their faith. When the storms of life overtake us as this storm overtook the disciples, we often respond as if God does not exist or does not care.
When a centurion sought Jesus' help to heal his servant, he said, "Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed" (Matthew 8:8). Jesus commended the centurion's faith in His authority and power, and He healed the servant because of the faith of his master (Matthew 8:5-13). In each of these biblical examples, what the people did indicated to Jesus what kind of faith they had or did not have. What you do, rather than what you say you believe, reveals what you really believe about God!

True Faith Requires Action
When you face a crisis of belief, what you do demonstrates what you believe. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). Faith without action is dead!
Hebrews 11 is sometime called "The Hall of Faith" or "The Roll Call of Faith." The individuals listed took action that demonstrated their faith. While studying Hebrews 11, however, you may notice that a faithful life does not always bring the same results in human terms. Verses 33-35a describe the victory and deliverance some people of faith experienced. Verses 35b-38 describe the torture, mockery, and death other people of faith experienced. Were some more faithful than others? No. They "obtained a good testimony through faith" (Hebrews 11:39). They decided a "Well done!" from their Master was more important than life itself. Verse 40 explains that God has planned something far better for people of faith than the world has, to offer Therefore: Hebrews 12:1-3
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Do Not Grow Weary
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

The outward appearance of success does not always indicate faith, and the outward appearance of failure does not always indicate that faith is lacking. A faithful servant is one who does what his Master tells him, whatever the outcome may be. As our example, we need only to consider Jesus who endured the cross; but now He is seated near the very throne of God! What a reward for His faithfulness! Do not grow weary in being faithful. A reward is awaiting faithful servants.
I pray you are trying to please God by earnestly seeking Him (Hebrews 11:6).
Following God's will always requires adjustments that are costly to you and even to those around you. This will be the topic of the next few posts!

In Christ,

David

Reality #5 Part 2 God Sized Tasks

Something Only God can do!

Moses could never have delivered the children of Israel from Pharaoh's army, crossed the Red Sea on dry land, provided water from a rock, or furnished to his people bread and meat. Moses had to have faith that the God who called him would do the things He said He would do. Joshua could not take the Israelites across the Jordan River on dry land, bring down walled cities, defeat enemies, or make the sun stand still. Only God could have done these things. Joshua had to have faith in God.
In the New Testament this also was true for the disciples. On their own, they could not feed the multitudes, heal the sick, still a storm, or raise the dead. Only God could do these things. But God called servants to let Him do these things through them.
When God lets you know what He wants to do through you, it will be something only God can do. What you believe about Him will determine what you do. If you have faith in the God who called you, you will obey Him; and He will bring to pass what He has purposed to do. If you lack faith, you will not do what He wants. That is disobedience. Jesus questioned those around Him, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). Jesus frequently rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith and unbelief. Their unbelief revealed that they really had not come to know who He was. Thus, they did not know what He could do.

Obedience shows Faith
Faith was required of Moses and the disciples. When God calls a person to join Him in a God-sized task, faith is always required. Obedience indicates faith in God. Disobedience often indicates a lack of faith. Without faith, a person cannot please God. Without faith, a church cannot please God. We face the same crisis Bible characters faced. When God speaks, what He asks of us requires faith. Our major problem however, is our self-centeredness. We think we have to accomplish the assignment on our own power and with our current resources. We think, "I can't do that. That is not possible." We forget that when God speaks He always reveals what He is going to do--not what He wants us to do for Him. We join Him so He can do His work through us. We don't have to be able to accomplish the task within our limited ability or resources. With faith, we can proceed confidently because we know that He is going to bring to pass what He purposes. "Jesus looked at them and said, 'With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible'" (Mark 10:27). The Scriptures bear witness that this is true.

Encounters with God are God-Sized
God is interested in the world's coming to know Him. The only way people will know what God is like is when they see Him at work. They know His nature when they see His nature expressed in His activity. Whenever God involves you in His activity, the assignment will have God-like dimensions to it. Some people say, "God will never ask me to do something I can't do." I have come to the place in my life that, if the assignment I sense God is giving me is something that I know I can handle, I know it probably is not from God. The kind of assignments God gives in the Bible are always God-sized. They are always beyond what people can do because He wants to demonstrate His nature, His strength, His provision, and His kindness to His people and to a watching world. That is the only way the world will come to know Him.
You could name many God-sized assignments in Scripture. He told Abraham to father a nation when Abraham had no son and Sarah was past the age to bear children. He told Moses to deliver the children of Israel, to cross the Red Sea, and to provide water from a rock. He told Gideon to defeat a Midianite army of 120,000 with 300 men. Jesus told the disciples to feed the multitudes and to make disciples of all the nations. None of these things were humanly possible. When God's people and the world see something happen that only God can do, they come to know God.
God wants people to come to know Him. That is why He chooses to work through us. People know us. They know what we can do. When they see things happen that can only be explained by God's involvement, they will come to know Him.
Moses and the Red Sea (Exodus 14:4 + 14:31)
Joshua and the Jordan River @ flood stage (Joshua 4:24)
King Jehoshaphat and Israel against a Vast Army (2 Chronicles 20:12, 20:15,17, + 20:29)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 3:17 + 3:28-29 + 4:2-3)
The Early Church
Christians in the early church followed the directions of the Holy Spirit. Here is the testimony of the impact God had on their world:
1. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in foreign languages they had not learned. Then Peter preached and "Those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them." (Acts 2:41)
2. God used Peter and John to heal a crippled beggar in the name of Jesus. They preached, and "Many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of men came to be about five thousand." (Acts 4:4)
3. God used Peter to raise Dorcas from the dead. "And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord." (Acts 9:42)

What our world often sees are devoted, committed Christians serving God. But they are not seeing God. They comment, "Well, there's a wonderful, dedicated, committed group of people serving God." They, however, do not see anything happening that can only be explained in terms of the activity of God. Why? Because we are not attempting anything that only God can do.
Our world is not attracted to the Christ we serve because they cannot see Him at work! They do not hesitate to attack the Christian position on morality because they have no fear of the God we serve. They see us doing good things for God and say, "That is wonderful, but that is not my thing." The world is passing us by because they do not want to get involved in what they see. They are not having an opportunity to see God. Let the world see God at work, and He will attract people to Himself. Let Christ be lifted up--not in words, but in life. Let them see the difference that a living Christ makes in a life, a family, or a church; that will make a difference in how they respond. When the world sees things happening through God's people that cannot be explained except that God Himself has done them, then the world will be drawn to the God they see. Let world leaders see the miraculous signs of an all-powerful God, and they, like Nebuchadnezzar, will declare that He is the one true God. The world comes to know God when they see God's nature expressed through His activity. When God starts to work, He accomplishes something that Only He can do. When God does that, both God's people and the world come to know Him in ways they have never known Him before. That is why God gives God-sized assignments to His people.
The reason much of the world is not being attracted to Christ and His church is that God's people lack the faith to attempt those things that only God can do. If you or your church are not responding to God and attempting things that only He can accomplish, then you are not exercising faith. "Without faith it is impossible to pleas God." (Hebrews 11:6). If people in your community are not responding to the gospel as they did in the New Testament, one possible reason is that they are not seeing God in what you are doing as a church. God is far more interested in your having an experience with Him than He is interested in getting a job done. You can complete a job, and never experience God at all. He is not interested just in getting a job done. He can get the job done anytime He wants. What is He interested in? You and the world, knowing Him and experiencing Him. So God will come to you and give you a God-sized assignment. When you start to do what He tells you to do, He brings to pass what He has purposed. Then you and all the people with you will rejoice that you have experienced Him. You and the people around you will know more of Him than you have ever known before.

Reality #5 God's Invitation Leads to a Crisis of Belief

Hebrews 11:6
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

When God invites you to join Him in His work, He presents a God-sized assignment for you to accomplish. You will realize that you cannot accomplish it on your own. If God doesn't help you, you will fail. This is the crisis point where many decide not to follow what they sense God is leading them to do. Then they wonder why they do not experience God's presence, power, and activity the way other Christians do. The word crisis comes from a word that means "decision." The same Greek word is often translated judgment. We are not talking about a crisis in your life like an accident or death. The crisis of belief is a turning point or a fork in the road that demands that you make a decision. You must decide what you believe about God. How you respond when you reach this turning point will determine whether you go on to be involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what God has purposed for your life. This is not a one-time experience. It is a daily experience. How you live your life is a testimony of what you believe about God.

THE CRISIS OF BELIEF
1. An encounter with God requires faith.
2. Encounters with God are God-sized.
3. What you do in response to God's revelation (invitation) reveals what you believe about God.
4. True Faith requires action.

When God speaks, your response requires faith. All through Scripture when God revealed Himself, His purposes, and His ways, the response to Him required faith. God is interested in your walking with Him by faith.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father." John 14:12

"He said to them, 'Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.'" Matthew 17:20

"And my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God." 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

"If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all." Isaiah 7:9

Faith is confidence that what God has promised or said will come to pass. Sight is an opposite of faith. If you can see clearly how something can be accomplished, more than likely faith is not required. Your faith does not rest in a concept or an idea. Faith must be in a Person--God Himself. If you or someone else decides something would be nice to have happen and then leads people to "believe" or "have faith," you are in a dangerous position. Faith is only valid in God and what He says He is purposing to do. If the thing you expect to happen is from you and not God, then you must depend on what you can do. Before you call yourself, your family, or your church to exercise faith, be sure you have heard a word from God. With only mustard-seed (very small) sized faith in God, nothing is impossible. Jesus said His followers would do even greater things than He had done. Our faith, however, must be based on God's power and not human wisdom. Without a firm faith, you will stumble and fall.

In Christ,

David