It’s amazing how God just can slam the breaks on your life and flip things up side down and around and send you out in a whole new direction.
I am thankful that He is in control.
Less than a month ago my husband and I were considering a transfer to another state. He was in the running for a position advancement at work and while in this running, another job offer several states away was sent to him through the grapevine.
Then out of the blue our former realtor calls and wants to show a lady our house. The house that we had on the market for a year over six months ago, with no one showing any interest in purchasing.
You see we had decided that God must not have wanted us to move. We began making plans and adjustments to stay where we were… then God says… Surprise!
While in the planning-on-staying-put-in-the-house stage of our life… I had finally quit arguing with God about my inability to answer the call to children’s ministry. I began keeping a check on the church employment offers in children’s ministry in our area… knowing that God was leading me here eventually in His time.
When our house sold, less than a week following the grapevine job offer from another state… I thought, “Well this is it. God is moving us here, and here is where our ministry in the Lord is heading”
I believe I have shared before that whenever I decide that I know exactly what God is up to He never fails to remind me that I am completely clueless. And the truth is I am perfectly okay with that, I used to not be, but now I have learned that what He has planned far exceeds my limited ability to rationalize my own life course.
Well the house is under contract, my husband and I are not moving to Indiana. If the Lord wills, we are moving closer to His current job. His commute will go from on hour to ten minutes. And not only is His commute closer (which will help with my concerns of him driving for an hour home after working a twelve hour night shift) but God has also provided us with a beautiful new home that we love.
The finding of this home is a God thing as well… it is in a location we would have never considered on our own. But like I said God has a way of putting us where He wants us.
So, while in the midst of our current house selling and our making the offer on the house we have now signed a contract on… we continued to house hunt and we continued to pray about the three states away thing… because we had not heard a word on our offer.
Then through another God thing, I learned about the resignation of our children’s ministry assistant… my heart stopped.
Could it be?
Could this be where God wants me now?
I immediately began conversing with Him and praying and seeking His guidance… because I was beginning to become so sure that we were to be headed in the three states away direction… it had been over a week and we had heard nothing on our offer concerning the house that we loved… so no news of course had to mean we were supposed to be moving three states away… right?
And now this… what’s a girl to do?
What in the world was God up to?
My husband was on nights again… and when we got home from church he called and I sat and listened with forced patience as he shared how he didn’t think the Lord was calling us three states away… he realized that if we went we would be going for the sole reason of the job advancement. He knew that if he was going simply to chase a check… we were going for the wrong reason.
My heart stops again.
I now share with him my news and discuss with him about what I should do… We laugh together as we consider the absolute roller-coaster ride the past few weeks have been.
My husband confirms my heart and chides me in love as I try to unqualify myself again… He knows my heart well… better than I like to admit.
I make my heart’s desire known to my church the very next morning bright and early… and then I wait.
And now I need to make a new picture with a new title…
My blog post title is no longer accurate as “Confessions of a Christian Housewife”
It now needs to read “Confessions of a Christian Children’s Ministry Director”
and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings
and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen;
in every place where I cause My name to be remembered,
I will come to you and bless you.
Exodus 20:24
There is something about this verse of Scripture that makes me read it over and over and over again. In my very much inadequate ability I am going to attempt to share why this verse captivates me so.
The children of Israel had just spent the last 400 years among altars of gold, among temples, among man made images to false deities. Here, after God has given them His commands of what not to do, He gives them a command of what they are to do.
They were to build an altar to Him from the earth.
When I read this my mind goes back to the garden. It’s amazing how often God brings me back to the garden… back to Genesis… back to the beginning.
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place,
and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas;
and God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,
and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit aftertheir kind with seed in them”;
and it was so.
The earth brought forth vegetation,plants yielding seed after their kind,
and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, aftertheir kind;
and God saw that it was good.
There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Genesis 1:9-13
The waters were to be gathered to one place and then the earth appeared and out of the earth would come life. Out of the earth would come fruit trees that were meant to bear fruit… after their kind. They were to yield seed and the seed were to grow and bear fruit of their own… after their kind.
The children of Israel had been gathered out of the nations… they passed through the water and they now appeared and God said this is good… now go and be a witness to the rest of the nations and bear fruit after your kind… after Me, your God. Do not bear fruit from the gods of these other nations bear fruit after after Me… I am going to use you to bring forth life as you witness as my priests, as my preachers.
God told the children of Israel that they were to make an altar of earth for Him and there make their sacrifices. Did God mean He just wanted them to pile up a big mound of dirt and sacrifice on it?
I live in Alabama. We have a city near me called Moundsvillle. It is full of ancient mounds built by the early Native Americans as tombs and altars of worship to false gods. I don’t believe this would be what God was calling Israel to do… it would contradict the previous “not to do” commands. God simply was not like these other gods and He would not be treated as though He were.
So there must be more to this altar of earth…
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;
and man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7
Man was formed from the earth… from the dust of the ground.
Oh precious one, did you see it?
The altar of earth?
The body?
Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,
“SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. “THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’”
After saying above,
“SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS
AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them”
(which are offered according to the Law),
then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.”
He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:5-10
Everything has always pointed to Him, to Christ, to this God-Man with a body of flesh that would be the ultimate sacrifice and the only place where His name would be remembered and when we come to Him, to this One who says “Remember Me“… and we lay our sacrifice on this altar… here we are blessed. Here our God comes to us, to meet with us, when we call on Him the One who would cause the name of God to be remembered forever.
I have to look up the names of the false gods worshiped through out history… I forget them.
However, whether they love Him or hate Him… no one who has ever heard the name of Jesus can forget Him.
His name is always on the tip of their tongue, on the back of their mind, naggingly whispering… who do you say that I am?
He is indeed unforgettable… even if all you have ever heard about Him is just the name. He will cause His name to be remembered.
Now my friend, let me ask you, have you prepared your altar of earth on which to worship your Creator God?
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God,
to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do notbe conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
so that you may prove what the will of God is,
that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:1-2
God doesn’t want a big fancy temple. He doesn’t want an altar of gold or silver or an image of brass or bronze. He wants the dust of the earth that He formed to be a man and breathed life into. He wants this broken, dirty, fallen flesh of earth that He created to bear His image.
He wants this altar of earth to go and be used by Him to cause His name to remembered. If you will give Him this altar and lay out this body as a living sacrifice to Him and here worship Him… He will come to you and He will bless you.
The children of Israel were being told here that no matter where they were, no matter where they got scattered… if there was earth, they had a place of worship. They had a place, and all the material they would need, to build an altar to call upon the name of their God.
Oh Father,
I am overcome and overwhelmed with You. This earth belongs to You and this body of earth belongs to You. I offer upon this altar of earth my everything. You offer us the opportunity to worship You wherever we go. No matter our material possession, no matter our geographical location, earth is everywhere… and our body is with us wherever we go. You came to this earth in a body… and then You come and dwell within this body of mine to dwell with Me and make you this body, this flesh formed from the earth, Your temple. Yes, I am overcome and overwhelmed with You. My Jesus, take this altar of earth and use me to cause Your name to be remembered.
On Good Friday we remembered that He died on the cross for our sin. He died not just for the sins we committed or the sins we will commit, but He died for the sin.
The original sin that day in the garden… when the world was flipped upside down and the curse of death was unleashed to wreak its havoc.
This inherit sin that is the root of all sins… it was for this sin that He went to the cross and when this sin’s debt was paid its cost was so great that its payment more than enough covered all the sins that came as a result of that one original sin.
Friday He died.
Friday He was mocked, beaten, betrayed, hated, denied, whispered about.
Saturday He was whispered about…
He was fought about…
He was cried over…
He was mourned…
He was doubted.
Sunday He was doubted, but He rose!
Sunday He rose from the grave because death could not hold Him.
Sunday He was shouted over,
He was worshiped,
He was praised,
He was doubted, but those who doubted now believed!
Friday He was denied and He died,
Saturday He was dead and doubted,
Sunday He was doubted but His deity was clearly declared as He stood before His disciples!
But today is Monday.
Today He is alive. He is the risen Christ. He is Jesus, the Son of God. He has died, never to die again. Now He extends His nail-scarred hand out to us all and says “Now it’s your turn. Will you die too? Will you die to your will and be raised in Mine?”
Today.
Will you die today?
Will you die trusting in His divine authority to see you raised from that death in eternal victory?
Will you die to your will and live today in total surrender to the One who calls out to you and says, “Come and follow Me“?
Today it’s your turn to die. Will you go to your knees in your garden of Gethsemane and lay your heart out before the Father and surrender your will no matter how hard that surrender will be? Today will you cry our, not my will but Your will be done?
Just for today.
God doesn’t ask for your tomorrow.
God asks for your today.
Yet you do not knowwhat your life will be like tomorrow.
You are just a vapor that appears for a little while
and then vanishes away.
James 4:14
So what will you do with your today?
Will you choose to live today saying- Yes, Lord. Here I am…
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” Exodus 20:20
God has just delivered the last of His Ten Commandments before the children of Israel. We read in Exodus 20:18 that all people saw and perceived the thunder and lightning and the sound of the trumpet through which God spoke. They saw and were afraid and stood at a distance.
I love thunderstorms. I love them because of verses like these in the Scriptures. So many times we read of God being in the midst of the storm. We read how thunder and lightning surround His throne.
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the seven Spirits of God;
Revelation 4:5
So when thunder and lightning are surrounding me I worship my God and I give Him praise because in the midst of the storm I know He is near.
Sin entered the entire world, the whole earth is in rebellion to Him… why wouldn’t the earth quake in fear and the atmosphere rage in rebellion when it’s Holy Creator has entered its presence.
It’s opposites in the mix, sin and holiness, like cold and hot air create a tornado or hurricane, when sin and holiness combine an unforgettable event is about to happen.
This powerful presence of God before the children of Israel was to be a reminder to them of God’s authority. It was to be a reminder of the day they heard these commands. The reminder was for those days when life seemed ordinary. Those days when God’s blessings upon His people turn into a curse because life gets so easy that they actually begin to think they have what they have because of themselves, not because of their God.
This thunderous trumpet sounding of God was to help remind the children of Israel that their God was a holy God. That their God was a God of His word. That their God was not wood or stone, but alive and active. This display was to command their attention and was to stamp their memory so that they would share it with their children, with their grandchildren, and their great grandchildren, for generations still to come.
This was to test them, so that the fear of God would remain with them, so that they may not sin.
We live in a day where many have forgotten the fear of God. Many in the church, have chosen to ignore to teach about the God of wrath and have chosen to only pull the attributes of God out of Scripture that make people feel good. You know the ones that don’t scare them or make them nervous or make them question His goodness.
God is not afraid of our questions… when Christ came He tried to get people to ask them.
It was the fear of the wrath of my earthly father that kept me in check just as much as it was the love I had for him, and the love that I knew he had for me, that kept me from wanting to disappoint him. I knew both sides of my father. My father used to say that God gave him two hands for a reason, he loved me with one and disciplined me with the other. However the truth is that he loved me with both at the same time.
MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.
Hebrews 12:5-6
Our Heavenly Father loves us with an everlasting love and because He does He wants us to live. Therefore, since the wages of sin is death… He reminds of His wrath and of His power and of His disciplining hand so that the fear of Him would remain with us so that we may not sin… because sin leads to death.
Remembering the sound of His voice as a thunderous trumpet would hopefully make the children of Israel think twice before they indulged in some fleshly foolishness. Likewise, remembering the wrath of God that was poured out on Christ on behalf of our sin should make us think twice before we indulge in fleshly foolishness of our own.
Oh Father,
Let me never forget that You are Jehovah-makkeh, the LORD that Smiteth. You love me, I in no way can deny that. You demonstrated how very much You loved me when Christ died on the cross for my sins (Romans 5:8). May I never be guilty of mistaking Your kindness for weakness or Your grace for ignorance. May I live each day working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12) so that I might not sin against You.
I was truly excited to hear that my next product for review as a Gabby Mom was the Eternal Encouragement magazine. Don’t get me wrong, I love the email subscriptions, but there just is something about being able to have a great read in my hand that allows me to actually turn the page.
I opened the magazine and began reading at the first page and I didn’t make it through the first article before I began taking notes and heading to my computer to share quotes as facebook status updates and twitter tweets.
Every article was filled with God’s Word and it magnified His grace and love and pointed us to a true and real relationship with our God through His Son Jesus Christ.
There were very few advertisements in the magazine. Those that were in it were truly helpful products focused on growing in Christ. As a fairly new homeschool mom I found the advertisements for curriculum and website referrals very helpful. I think I have just about looked into every one of them and marked them in my favorites on my computer.
As I read through this magazine I was encouraged as a believer, as a woman, as a wife, as a mother, as a teacher. It is a magazine that I will not through in the trash when I am done, but it will be added to my bookshelf as a reference from which to pull information.
In the very last article in the magazine Lorrie Flem the editor of Eternal Encouragement Magazine and More had this to say, My quick description to describe our ministry to others is this, “We encourage women to trust and obey God, stay home, embrace obeying their husbands, consistently and lovingly train their children, and put their first fruits into their own homes.”
If this ministry description is a standard for your own life, then Eternal Encouragement magazine will help you reach and maintain that standard. It’s well worth the money for the subscription and the time to read.
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior,
not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine,
teaching what is good,
so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands,
to love their children,
to be sensible, pure, workers at home,
kind, being subject to their own husbands,
so that the word of God will not be dishonored.
Titus 2:3-5
Eternal Encouragement Magazine & more is an excellent example of this Scripture verse being fleshed out. Women teaching women to love God, to love their husbands, and to love their children so that the Word of God will not be dishonored or the testimony of Christ maligned. May we all as women work on building each other up and encouraging one another with the Truth of the Word not our own opinions… may we be women, wives, and mothers who walk in a manner worthy of our calling always growing in the grace and knowledge of our God.
(Subscriptions are available printed and digital andany subscription receives the NEW EE Etc. Web Magazine that is published 8 times a year. This has full magazine articles that are only available to Eternal Encouragement Subscribers via a new online magazine website.)
EE Disclaimer: I received this product free from EE magazine for an honest review.
A year ago I sat at this very same computer and wrote how I was overwhelmed… but I was overwhelmed with me, with issues, with frustrations, with junk… today I sit here as a woman overwhelmed again.
However this time, I am overwhelmed with Him. Today I am overwhelmed with His grace and His goodness.
I wish I could take you into my head and heart even deeper. I wish I could show you the battles that I have fought. I wish that you could see how faithful He has been… some of you reading this know.
You have prayed with me, stood by me, and fought with me through your prayers and words of encouragement and through constantly taking me back to the Word of my God.
You have interceded on my behalf, you have been faithful to send that text, write that card, make that call, say those words, pray that prayer, do that thing, when the Holy Spirit prompted you… and because you did… you were used by Him to help keep hope, faith, and love alive in me.
Never, ever, ever, underestimate the power of a kind word, a small gesture, a simple sincere how are you doing? They are more powerful than you can even imagine.
After finishing my study of the book of Job this morning, I sat on the couch overwhelmed with sobs as I was washed over with a wave of His grace. His abundant, sufficient, amply supplied grace. I am so undeserving of it, but He gives it any way.
Oh how I pray that when others see me, when others hear me speak His name, when they hear me share His truth, they can grasp that I mean what I say because I know that from the depth of my being that HE means what HE says.
He is good, so very good.
He has never failed me.
His Word has won every battle I have ever fought.
I don’t know where you are at. I don’t know what you are going through. I do know that if you will fall into Him He will rescue you and He will redeem you, and He will restore you. I can’t promise you it will be immediate. You may even think He has forgotten you. You may doubt He is even there, but hold on to the memory, the mere thought, the smallest hope in Him… and trust His Word. Be obedient to His Word no matter how much your mind and others around you call it foolishness. Trust and obey Him and leave the consequences of your trust and obedience in His hands as you rest in the absolute assurance of His eternal goodness and lovingkindness.
Once again in the commands of God we see that God intended man to possess certain individual rights. We live in a day where coveting is rampant. I find it interesting that this command is the last. When we look at the rest of the commands we can see how coveting could be the root of them all.
Why would we bear false witness or lie except that we covet our own selves or that we covet the prestige of another and want to discredit them.
Why would we steal, except that we covet what we do not possess?
Why would you commit adultery except that we covet another’s spouse?
Why would we murder, except that we covet another’s life?
Why would we not honor our parents, except that we covet their authority over us?
Why would we not honor the Sabbath except that we covet what we might gain by ignoring it?
Why would we not honor God as God except that we also covet His authority over us and others?
What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?
Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
You lust and do not have; so you commit murder.
You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel.
You do not have because you do not ask.
You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
James 4:1-3
You lust and you do not have, so you commit murder. Is this not we have seen from the beginning?
The serpent of old lusted for the authority of God. He coveted God’s kingdom. He coveted God’s house, he coveted God’s bride, and he coveted God’s servants. Yet he could not get them, so he committed murder.
Is coveting not what the serpent used to entice and deceive Eve? Did she not covet the fruit? Did she not lust after the power and knowledge that was claimed by the serpent would come with the eating of the fruit? Did she not take what was not given to her?
She coveted the fruit of the one tree that God had denied her. She lusted and did not have and so she committed murder. In her coveting she brought death to Adam, and Adam brought death to all mankind.
Let us never mistake that coveting is a serious issue. It is a secret sin like no other. It is a sin that cannot be seen by others. It is a sin of the eyes and of the heart and of the mind.
But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin;
and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.
James 1:14-15
InMatthew 6:22 Jesus tells us that the eye is the lamp of the body. My husband attended a safety conference for work. In one of the safety workshops the speaker pointed out that the eyes were the only unfiltered opening to our bodies. Our mouth can be closed. Our nose and ears have cilia that filter impurities, but our eyes take in it all.
It makes me think of the childhood song, be careful little eyes what you see…
Could this be why Jesus said “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you…” (Matthew 5:29).
Could this be why Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes…” (Job 31:1).
Could this be why David wrote, “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes…” (Psalm 101:3). David knew well the consequences that come with coveting.
Oh precious one, let us fix our eyes on Christ, let us behold His glory alone, let us desire Him only. May we be content, as Paul was content, whether we have a little or a lot, no matter our circumstances (Philippians 4:11-12). May we simply do what is right and trust God to meet our every need in His time and His perfect way.
Oh Father,
How easy it is to fall into the covet trap. This temptation I would say is the devil’s most valuable one. It works so very well. We can even convince ourselves that we are justified in our coveting by rationalizing our desire as a pursuit of happiness. This is why Jesus tells us to stay alert, to pray, for the spirit is willing but our flesh is indeed weak. Help me Father to recognize this tactic of the enemy of my soul. May I not allow my eyes, my heart, or my mind to deceive me because I have not kept my mind renewed by Your Word and or my spirit alert through prayer. Keep me, oh God, in Your truth, Your Word is truth.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Exodus 20:16
There are few things in life that cut deeper than a lie against you, especially when that lie is from someone you would call a neighbor or a friend. The fact is, even lies from someone we would call an enemy bring us pain? Maybe that could be because “He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth…” (Acts 17:26). Are we not all to be neighbors, friends, and family?
for in Him we live and move and exist,
as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we also are His children’.
Acts 17:28
Jesus uses the lie to show us the difference between children of God and the children of the devil. He tells us in John 8:44 that the devil not only was a murderer from the beginning but he also is a liar and the father of all lies. Jesus tells us “that he does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
In Romans 1:25 God uses the pen of Paul to show us how we become children of the devil, He tells us that we “exchanged the truth of God for a lie (literally this text is to read the lie), and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
What is “the lie“?
Well, my friend, the lie goes all the way back to the beginning…
“Indeed, has God said…”
Genesis 3:1
Satan bore false witness against God. He is indeed the father of lies, the instigator of gossip, the first to bear false witness. So when we lie, when we bear false witness who’s nature do we imitate, who’s image do we display, who’s child do we show ourselves to be?
It certainly is not God’s, for it is impossible for him to lie (Hebrews 6:18).
We have all been guilty of telling a lie. For me this is one of the most obvious ways to illustrate the depravity of man at conception. We sin because we are sinners. Children do not need to be taught how to lie. They just know to do it. It is part of their nature. They also do not have to be taught when to lie. This they also already know, it too is a part of their nature.
In Romans 1:18 we read that the wrath of God is revealed against those that “suppress the truth in unrighteousness”. To suppress something, we must first possess it. Romans 1:19 goes on to say to us “that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” You see the fact that we know when to lie proves that we do in fact recognize the truth when we see it.
However, just because we see the truth and know the truth does not mean we are able to live out the truth. I have learned in my own personal experiences with this sin that there is one specific thing that will lead me into a lie every time- fear.
Fear of being hurt.
Fear of getting caught.
Fear of not gaining approval.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of failure.
How many lies have been spoken from the lips of one who’s heart was a slave of fear.
Yet here is our hope, “perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18)
In this command we see specifically the kind of lie that condemns us the most, the bearing of false witness. This is the lie that someone makes up to tell against another person. When Christ was brought before the high priest we read in Mark 14:53-59 of many coming up against Christ and giving false testimony.
They lied. They twisted His words. They manipulated the truth and distorted it in order to make Him appear to be something He was not. We still see this false witness being bore against Him today.
Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
1 John 3:22
This is the lie that eternally condemns.
How do we know if we are this liar? How do we know that we have come to know that Jesus is the Christ? How are we to know that we no longer suppress the truth, that we no longer believe the lie, that we no longer worship the creature instead of the Creator?
By this we know that we have come to know Him,
if we keep His commandments.
The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’
and does not keep His commandments,
is a liar,
and the truth is not in him;
but whoever keeps His word,
in him the love of God has truly been perfected.
By this we know that we are in Him:
the one who says he abides in Him
ought himself walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:3-6
Whose manner do you walk in?
Oh Father,
Thank You for Your perfect love that lives in me and casts out all fear. Forgive me for the times that I forget this love and allow fear to control me and let a lie come forth from my lips. If I say that I do not fail here at times then I would make You out to be a liar (1 John 1:10) and would show Your Word to not be in me, but because I see the sin in me and bring it to You I show that I am Yours. Only You can cleanse me of all unrighteousness and I daily need to come to You to be washed in Your Word. Your Word cleanses my heart and renews my mind and as I become more filled with Your truth, when my heart is squeezed by fear, it will be Your truth that leaks out, not a lie of self protection.
How does it illustrate the depravity of our minds?
In John 10:10 we read that“the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”
When we steal we show ourselves to have the like character of the one who destroys. When we purposely steal it is always out of pure selfishness. We take something that belongs to another because we desire it and refuse to wait for it or work for it.
Sometimes we steal out of self preservation. I love this prayer in the Proverbs:
Two things I asked of You,
Do not refuse me before I die:
Keep deception and lies far from me,
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion,
That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?”
Or that I not be in want and steal,
And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:7-9
Some steal from another because they have not the faith to believe that God will provide for their every need. They have not come to stand on the promise of Psalm 37:25, “I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread.”
I think that usually when we hear of someone stealing in order to feed themselves or their family we do not view it as evil, we are much more inclined to scream mercy rather than justice in this case.
“Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry;” Proverbs 6:30.
However even this reason does not make stealing permissable.
Sometimes we steal things unintentionally.
My girls joke with me about being a pen thief. I do not steal pens on purpose, but for some reason whenever I borrow one to use at a store or another location, I will walk out every time with this borrowed pen in my hand.
I do not enter into the store with a predetermined plan of intent to steal the pen. I will even use the pen in the store and be determined to remember to return the pen, but then I will go right on and end up walking out with the pen in my hand. Then my girls will start singing, “Momma is a pen thief, Momma is a pen thief”
I used to shrug this “petty theft” off with a head shake of frustration and drive off with the pen because I did not want to be inconvenienced with having to walk back into the store, confess my sin, and return the pen. However, now I take the time to return the pen.
Possibly the song of my children helped to encourage this, or possibly just the simple fact that they were watching me. The right thing to do was to return the pen, no matter how much it inconvenienced me at the time. My girls seeing me love God by honoring and obeying His commands was definitely most important.
This command of “thou shalt not steal” also shows us that God created us with intent to possess things. Genesis 15:7 reads, “And He said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.”
To steal something someone else has to have ownership of it. All the world belongs to God and everything in it (Psalm 50:12). God owns the world but He created man and said here this is yours, take care of it.
He then divides things to us as individuals and families and nations.
This is yours.
Be content with what is yours and do not steal what is another’s.
God wants us to possess our possessions. We are to possess the possessions; the possessions are not to possess us.
That is where the trouble comes in isn’t it?
When we allow the possessions to possess us?
When the things of this earth rule over and subdue us instead of us ruling over and subduing the earth (Genesis 1:28)?
This is why Jesus said..
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
We must honor God in this command and not attempt to justify stealing, no matter the excuse we have, whether it be fear, hunger, ignorance, or pure selfishness and greed.
Let us make the possession of the kingdom of heaven and the inheritance of Christ our main focus and be content with what we have and live a life of righteousness. Let us walk in righteousness and seek to honor God in our everyday lives and let us trust Him to add to us only what will not take us away from our knowledge of dependence on Him.
Oh Father,
I love You. I thank You for Your Word, and I pray again the prayer of Agur in the Proverbs. My Lord, keep deception and lies far from me and give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion for I do not want to become so full that I deny You or forget You and I do not want to be in such want that I steal and dishonor You in my attempt to meet my daily needs. May I trust You each day for my daily bread remembering that it is You who brought quail from out of nowhere and manna from the heavens and water from the rock.
I have spent the last few months teaching through the book of Job. This book is a must read, but it must not be a casual read. To get the full picture of this book, as most books of the Bible, you must go through it slowly and purposely.
Several of the Scripture passages that really caught my attention are found in a conversation between Eliphaz and Job.
You see Eliphaz was the “spiritual” one. He was the friend who had built his theology on his personal experiences. The things he had seen, heard, felt, and experienced. He was about the goosebumps and the spiritual high…
He was the one who claimed to “know” God’s will and ways because he had been “moved by the spirit”.
Now a word was brought to me stealthily, And my ear received a whisper of it. “Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake. “Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up. “It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice:
Job 4:12-16
This was one of Eliphaz’s experiences and he uses this experience and others to convince himself and to try and convince Job that he has some kind of “special” and “secret” relationship with God that makes him an authority on what is going on in Job’s life right now.
Eliphaz took his experience and measured and decided what truth was by his personal experience, when what we are called to do is take Truth and measure our experiences by the Truth of the Word of God and if our experience does not line up with the Word… well then it simply was not of theSpirit and it was not of God.
I must admit I was nervous about coming to the book of Job to study it…
because I knew that Job’s friends did not speak right to Job,
but the tricky part was that they spoke some truth…
however it was misguided, out of context, and used to condemn not exhort.
We do this quite often in Christendom. We take what little truth we know and twist it and distort and misuse it and teach others to do the same. We are living in a day where the Eliphaz’s are all around us. We are living in a day where a lot of those who confess Christ base their relationship with Him on whether or not they feel Him or have been moved by His Spirit… yet they are completely ignorant of His Word because it requires effort to actually seek Truth. It’s a lot easier to act on a gut reaction… or be led by a goose-bump.
We live in a day where those who confess Christ would rather decreetheir will then actually submit to God in prayer and seek His will. A loved one has cancer… well they will just decree it gone. A child is dying… well they will decree he lives. They are struggling with their finances… well we will just decree ourselves to have wealth… etc.
Many believe that if we will just be good Christians and give enough of our money to the “church” and get excited enough over God and muster up enough joy over Him and speak confident and positive things, then God will do whatever we say.
Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you. “Please receive instruction from His mouth And establish His words in your heart. “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored; If you remove unrighteousness far from your tent, And place your gold in the dust, And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks, Then the Almighty will be your gold And choice silver to you. “For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God. “You will pray to Him, and He will hear you; And you will pay your vows. “You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And light will shine on your ways. “When you are cast down, you will speak with confidence, And the humble person He will save. “He will deliver one who is not innocent, And he will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.”
Job 22:21-30
Yes, this was the words of Eliphaz to Job.
Here is Job’s response:
But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. “My foot has held fast to His path; I have kept His way and not turned aside. “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. “But He is unique and who can turn Him? And what His soul desires, that He does. “For He performs what is appointed for me, And many such decrees are with Him. “Therefore, I would be dismayed at His presence; When I consider, I am terrified of Him. “It is God who has made my heart faint, And the Almighty who has dismayed me, But I am not silenced by the darkness, Nor deep gloom which covers me.
Job 24:10-17
Job lets Eliphaz know that God is very much aware of every thing in his life and God knows that he has not committed some awful sin that he is hiding and refusing to repent of. Job knows God is up to something… he just can’t figure out what or why. But he lets Eliphaz know that he has held fast to the path of God and he has held on to the Word of God. Job knows that God is going to do what God is going to do.
Job lets Eliphaz know that God performs what is appointed for me, and many such decrees are with Him. Job is not going to decree anything… he believes that is God’s place… not his.
Job also says that he will not stand before God and speak confidently. He says I would be dismayed at His presence;When I consider, I am terrified of Him.
Ummmmm hello? GOD!
There is not one recorded encounter with God in His glory by man that man has even been able to stand in His presence, much less speak confidently before Him… they all fall down like dead men. I believe that I would too… I cannot even pray without bowing my head and falling to my knees in acknowledgement of His glorious majesty… I cannot fathom standing before Him and pointing with my finger and decreeing a thing that I know not all the facts about.
So whose position is right?
Should we as believers and those righteous by the blood of Christ be able to decree our will and expect God to do our bidding? Or should we be willing to trust that God knows exactly what is going on and that He is up to something and we should wait and know that He will accomplish His will in us and focus our prayers on Him revealing His will to us?
Let’s see who God says is right…
It came about after the LORD had spoken these words to Job,
that the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite,
“My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends,
because you have not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has.
Job 42:7
It doesn’t get much clearer than that.
Here’s the thing… as a believer I have authority. I have authority over sin in my life. I have authority to declare that if someone has believed the gospel and become obedient to the faith from the heart by grace through faith in Christ and have called on His name to save them I can declare them saved… on the authority of God’s Word.
I have authority to come before the throne of grace anytime I want and speak directly to my God through the name of my Jesus… not my own.
I have authority to declare what the will of God is… when the Scripture says, “this is the will of God, that you…”
However, I do not have the authority to decree God’s will in another’s life concerning His purpose for their life. I have not the knowledge to make such decrees. All I know is Romans 8:29 and the truth that God saved us to conform us into the image of His Son, how He conforms us… that’s all Him.
Job’s friends thought Job was a wicked secret sinner and that’s why he was going through what he was going through… but that was not the case.
Yet they had not been there in the heavens when God spoke with Satan and God Himself said that Job was blameless and a man of integrity. God Himself called Job His servant. God knew Job. God had a purpose for Job. God was at work in Job’s sufferings… Job did not suffer in vain and he did not suffer as some punishment for a hidden sin. Job was walking through the refining fire of our God.
Therefore as a believer in Christ, I personally will not be one who will decree things over another. I will not decree wealth on a person struggling in their finances… because I do not what God is up to in their lives. I will not decree health over a person whose body is sick because I do not know what God is up to in their suffering. I will not decree peace when there is no peace.
I will however, seek Him in His Word and see if there be a promise from God to help them hold on to as they walk through the refining fire of our holy God. I will pray for strength and endurance. I will pray for perseverance. I will thank God for His provision, His grace, His mercy, His everlasting love, His goodness, His sovereignty.
I will get on my face before Him and cry out my confusion concerning the suffering.
I will seek Him for peace and comfort.
I will pray…
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying,
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me;
yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:39
Job’s suffering was not for punishment… it was for purity of heart.
Job’s suffering was not for wickedly committed deeds… it was for the sake of righteousness.
Job’s suffering was not God moving away from him…
it was God making the way for Job to be able to walk closer with Him
Job’s suffering was not God hiding from him… it was God teaching Job a whole new revelation of Himsel so that God could bless Him with more of Himself. Job was blameless, he was a man of integrity, he was a great man, but Job had not yet arrived… he still had much to learn about his God… as do we… as do I.
The writing and teachings of Nicole Love Halbrooks Vaughn
