Putting God to the Test?
Testing God? Can we do this? Yes, people test or try God and can stress Him out by our unbelief.
because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, they certainly shall not see the land – Numbers 14:22 – 23
Israel was to go into the promised land to spy it out. The story goes that 10 spies came back doubtful and full of unbelief, while 2 spies, Joshua and Caleb came back believeing God instead of the circumstances of the land. So, the 10 spies with the unbleif choose to look at the giants of the land and saw the difficulty of entering in and the result was that they considered the challenge of going in greater than the challenge of pleasing God.
They tested or tried God by choosing to believe what they saw and heard about the giants in lieu of what they saw and heard from the Lord.
Whose calling the shots anyway?
We test, or try God when we choose to believe contrary to Him. He give the directive, the command, the ordiance, the promise, yet if we choose to ignore Him and believe someone or something else, well then this stresses Him out. We are more concerned about God testing us then we are testing Him. We are told that faith pleases Him. . . .he or she that comes to God must believe that He is and that He rewards . . .
Today Lord I choose to belive that You are . . . that You promised. . . and that You are faithful. You are faithful to fulfill and accomplish in and through us what your desire is. Forgive us/ me for testing You and allowing other influences to take presidence over Your word and promises. Today I believe and will trust You are working and will finish what You’ve started . . . to take us into the land even against all odds against the giants. . .
Follow Me, and I will make you become
God is at work in His people to cause them to grow, change, be molded and become something for His purpose and plan.
Follow Me, and I will make you become – Mark 1:17
Jesus called and gathered men to Himself. And His promise to them was that He would make them become something. . . in this case, it was to become fishers of men. Thus, as they walked with Christ, they learned the skill, and necessary learning to fish for men. To catch men, to gather them, to build them.
This message is the same today… God is at work to cause us to become what He has already determined and designed for us to be. He has a plan, an anointing and desire to see His poeple grow into what they were designed to become.
What is the Lord causing us to become? How is He shaping us, molding us, training us, and elevating us to become what His purpose is. And further what does His pupose look like. It certainly looks similar to what He did with the disciples. He desire was for them to fish for men. . . we also do the same.
Lord today, help me fish for men. Help me find the ones that You want to draw to You, and disciple them. Amen
God’s Secrets – His Covenant with Mankind
God shares His secrets with His people. Many are wanting to know the secrets to health, longevity, the universe. Well my friends, the secretw are confided to those that know their God.
The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them – Psalm 25:14
You’ve heard it before . . . “wanna know a secret?” Can I confide something with you. We relish have inside information about subjects, information, and especially people. God does this. . ..He confides in us. And as we’re told in this Psalm, the context of His confiding has to do with His covenant with us.
Here’s the deal -
God is a God of covenants. He is a God of agreements and positions His relationhsip wtih us based on His covenants. Space does not allow to record all the various forms and purposes of the covenants of old . . . with Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, etc . . . But the most significant covenant is thorugh Jesus Christ and it is a better covenant (Hebrews 8). We live today in the covenant fo grace in a love relationship between us and Christ Jesus. He wants to share with us the secrets of His covenant. This includes, His forgiveness, love, mercy, healing, salvation, provision, and working among us by His Holy Spirit empowerment and purpose.
Walk in His covenant
his day Lord, I thank you for Your covenant relationship with me. i thank you for the opportunitiy adn privledge to know You and be called by You into a love relationship that fills our lives. Today, I thank you for your covenant provisions. I thank you for sharing your secrets with us. Amen
Don’t Be Afraid – Keep on Speaking God’s Word
It takes strong faith to see what God sees and to say what the Lord wants to you to say. At times we simply need to trust that God is working in our behalf.
“Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” – Acts 18:9-10
Paul was at Corinth. He was beatened and persecurted in the last several cities he had been in. He also saw little fruit from last city he was in at Athens. Could some of the same persecution and challenges await him in Corinth?
Jesus showed up to Paul in order to encourage him that a harvest of souls was coming in Corinth. Jesus said to Paul, “I have meny people in this city”. These were people that did not know the Lord yet, we being prepared by the Holy Spirit to hear Paul and come into the Kingdom of God. You see, God was already at work before Paul arrived.
Many times in our own lives we fail to recognize that the Lord is already working circumstances for us to follow and walk in for His fruit and Kingdom to grow. In our scripture today Paul simply needed to obey. And, like Paul, we simply need to obey and be faithful.
Don’t be afraid – keep on speaking
The key for Paul was to not give into fear . . . but rather to press on speaking. How many times do we give into fear and choke up? One of the keys to overcoming fear is to keep on speaking. Speaking of God’s truth, His word, His faithfulness, His gospel. We are to not hold back and keep silent with that which we know to be true and right regarding our Lord.
Today, don’t be afraid, don’t fear, and don’t bow to the flow of today’s current and stream of unbelief. But rather, keep on speaking faith, proclaim God’s unchangeable promises . . . and praise Him that He too with us, like Paul . . . will tell us prophetically what He wants to accomplish in our lives. Don’t be afraid, keep on speaking for I have ____________________________ for you in this city. (You fill in the blank)