Speaking The End At The Beginning

"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 that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,"
Isaiah 46:9, 10 (NKJV)

God is a faith God, He is not a God who is focused on what can be seen but He looks to what is not yet seen.  Isaiah 46 tells us that God declares the end from the beginning.  This is similar to what we see in Romans 4:17 where it tells us that God calls the things that are not as though they were.  God does not just talk about how things look and the way things are now, from the beginning God talks about how things should look and how things will be in the end.  This is a principle we see all throughout the Bible.

In the Garden of Eden after man had sinned God promised that there would be a Redeemer.  We see this principle in the prophecies of the Old Testament proclaiming the coming Savior, Jesus.  We can see God talk like this to people too.  In Judges 6 an angel appeared to Gideon who was hiding from the enemy and the angel from God declared that this was a might man of valor.  In Genesis 17:5 God renamed Abram to Abraham, which means the father of a multitude, saying "I have made you a father of many nations".  It hadn't happened yet but God talked as if it had.

Some people would look at all of this and say that it is fine for God to do this, He is God.  But, the Bible tells us that we need to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1), and that we need to have the God kind of faith (Mark 11:22).  We need to imitate God and use our words the same way that He does.  From the first moment we find ourselves in the middle of a difficulty or a problem we should begin to say what the Bible says about the situation.  Don't just talk about how things look, how you feel, or what past experience you have had, from the beginning make a declaration based on God's Word of what the outcome will be!  That is how God talks and that is how we should talk.

Who Do You Listen To?

"Wisdom calls aloud outside; She raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the opening of the gates in the city She speaks her words:"
Proverbs 1:20, 21 (NKJV)

In the Book of Proverbs we see several references to wisdom calling out to people.  There are some valuable things we can learn from these examples.  One thing we can see is that wisdom is available, if we listen for it.  We can also see that wisdom is something that will benefit us and help us to lead the right kind of life.  And we can see that wisdom is not the only thing that is calling for our attention; there are many things and many opinions that we can hear.  Our success or failure in life will depend a lot on what it is we pay attention to.

We hear things from other people, we can see and hear the news and the latest events going on around us, and we can of course listen to God through His Word and the direction He gives by the Holy Spirit. There are many things calling for our attention and it is impossible to avoid hearing some things that are not good or profitable.  But, what do we choose to focus on and follow, what do we pay attention to?  Wisdom is calling to us every day through God's Word, but are we listening to that wisdom or are we listening to the wisdom and information from the world?

Proverbs 9 shows an interesting example of this.  In the first part of Proverbs 9 it talks about wisdom calling out to people and then later in Proverbs 9 it talks about a foolish woman who is also calling out to people.  Both wisdom and the foolish woman are calling out to people but what they offer is not the same.  Wisdom leads to life and understanding while the foolish woman, personifying things that are contrary to godly wisdom, leads to the depths of hell.  We all have the choice about who and what we are going to listen to in life and we need to be sure that what we hear is wisdom based on the Word of God; that will lead us to success.

There Is Always Room To Grow

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)

The Apostle Paul did many great things for God.  Paul traveled to many different places to preach the Gospel and to start churches.  Paul was someone who was very well educated and had a great revelation from God concerning who we are in Christ.  But, even with all of his education and understanding of God, Paul still realized that he did not know everything and there was room for growth and development in his life.  This is also true in our lives, no matter where we are naturally and spiritually there is always room to grow.

Any honest Christian knows that there is always room for more spiritual development.  The Bible talks about spiritual growth and there are several things we can do to grow up spiritually.  We need a continual diet of God's Word, we need to spend time talking to God in prayer on a regular basis, and we need to be involved in what God is doing in the world today.  We need to be an active member of our local church as well as being involved in what God is doing around the world.  Paul said that he was not "perfected" but he kept moving forward so that he could do the things that God had called him to do.

We need spiritual growth but we can use some natural training and development too; we can find ways to improve what we do in the natural side of life.  There are classes we can attend, there are books we can read, and we can ask God for wisdom and insight so that we can be better in whatever we do.  If we realize that we will always have room for growth and apply ourselves to learn and develop in every area of our life we will be more effective for God and more productive in everything that we do.

The Great Commission, Or The Great Suggestion?

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age, Amen."
Matthew 28:19, 20 (NKJV)

In Matthew 28 we read about what is called "The Great Commission".  When Jesus returned to heaven He left the work that He started to His followers.  Jesus told His disciples that their job was to go to all the nations, make disciples, and teach.  In Mark 16 it simply says to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, this is what the Great Commission is all about.  However, if you look at what a lot of Christians are doing today it seems like they did not understand what Jesus was talking about.  Most people who say they follow Jesus are not really doing what He asked them to do.

Jesus told His followers to go into the whole world, not "Stay where you are, focus on yourself, and do what you want to do".  Many people would be happy if Jesus had said that, but it is not what He said.  In Acts 1 Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would empower the disciples, and us, to be witnesses for Him, in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth.  Again, Jesus is saying the same thing, go into the whole world.  Yes, you can start with where you are but the Gospel message has to go out into the whole earth.  This is what Jesus commanded and this is what we need to do.

Jesus did not give us "The Great Suggestion" and say if we can find the time it would be nice to do it.  No, Jesus told us to go into every nation.  Of course not everyone will relocate to another country, but we still need to do what we can to help fulfill the words of Jesus.   Oswald J. Smith, who was a pastor and a missions advocate, once said, "You must go or send a substitute".  All of us are called to reach the world but not all of us will personally go to the whole world.  But, we can pray, we can give financially, and we can support those who do go.  Individually we cannot fulfill this, but together, with each one doing their part we can fulfill The Great Commission!

What Do You Live For?

"For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."
2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 (NKJV)

Some people say that they live for their children, their husband, or their wife.  Others say that they live for the weekend when they have more free time, or that they live for some other activity or event.  When people say things like this they are making the statement that their life is focused on their children, husband, wife, or whatever; this person or thing gives their life meaning and purpose, it is what motivates them.  Having good family relationships, free time, and recreation are all good, but is that what our life should revolve around, is that really what we should be living our life for?

The Bible tells us that all Christians are a part of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27).  The Bible also tells us that each part of the body of Christ has something it needs to supply for the rest of the body (Ephesians 4:16) and that each one of us have received a gift from God that we need to be a good steward of (1 Peter 4:10).  We need to know who we are in Christ and we need to understand that we are a part of God's plan for the world today.  While we do need to take care of things in our natural life, like our family, our focus and what our life revolves around needs to be our purpose in Christ.

Jesus gave His life for us and now we are required to live our life for Him, this is what 2 Corinthians 5 is telling us.  However, this does not mean that we have to sell all of our possessions, forsake our family and friends, and go live an isolated life on a mountain somewhere. What it does mean is that because God created us for good works (Ephesians 2:10) and He has a plan for our life that we need to focus on that and make it what we live for.  God certainly wants us to have a blessed, happy, and successful life but it all starts with finding and fulfilling our God given purpose; that is what we should live for!

Responding Or Reasoning

So he, trembling and astonished, said "Lord, what do You want me to do?" Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."
Acts 9:6 (NKJV)

When Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus it was an experience that changed Paul's life.  Paul became a Christian and served God for the rest of his life and accomplished great things for God.  Paul asked Jesus the question that we all need to ask, "Lord, what do you want me to do?"  Jesus simply told Paul to get up and go into Damascus and he would be told what to do.  Paul responded by going into the city.  Jesus did not give Paul any real details, Paul had to completely trust Jesus without really knowing what he would find in the city or what was coming next.

There is a lot we can learn from this story.  One thing is that this is a good example about obedience and following God's plan for our life.  Once Jesus spoke to Paul and told him what to do Paul had a decision to make, was he going to respond to what Jesus told him or was he going to think about it for a while and try to figure out what was going on?  This is where many people make a mistake, instead of just responding to what God says they try reasoning it out and often they miss what God is trying to do.  

One thing we all need to settle in our minds is that God knows what we need to do far, far better than we do.  God sees ahead and knows where our next steps will take us.  When we hear from God, through His Word or by the Holy Spirit, we should respond to His direction without trying to figure it all out to see if we understand it, like it, or agree with it.  When God speaks to our heart we should not check in our head, we need to simply respond to His direction.  Once we take the step God gives to us He will give us another step and then another to lead us to our ultimate desired destination.

Good-Bye Or Good Riddance?

"He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one's sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings."
2 Chronicles 21:20 (NKJV)

2 Chronicles 21 tells about the death of King Jehoram of Judah.  He only reigned for eight years and he was a bad king who did not follow God.  The Bible tells us that when King Jehoram died no one expressed any sorrow at his passing, the people were happy to see him go and to get rid of him.  But, there are other kings we can read about who when they died the people mourned over them, they were good kings that the people were sad to see go.  It was not the position that these men held that they were honored for, it was who they were and the influence they had on the people they ruled.

We all have relationships with people in our family, at our place of work, people we socialize with, and other types of relationships.  The type of relationship we have with these people may be different, but the one thing that is the same is that we have an influence on these people.  Positive or negative we are influencing the people around us.  But, are we the kind of people who are helping and encouraging to those around us or are we a negative influence?  If our relationship with these people ended today, for whatever reason, would they say a sad good-bye or would they just say good riddance? 

We don't always realize what an impact we make on other people, good or bad.  Think about Jesus and how He lived; I am sure that He was a positive influence on those around Him.  David is another example.  He had people around him who were in distress, in debt, and who were discontented.  David became their captain and chose to be a positive influence on these people.  We all know people like this that we are happy to see arrive and sad to see leave.  But on the other hand, there are some people that we are sad to see arrive and happy when they leave.  The question for us is which type of person we will be?  Our relationships with others are important and an opportunity for us to make a positive difference in people's lives.

Staying On Course Through God's Word

"Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven."
Psalm 119:89 (NKJV)

People are looking for something to focus on and follow in life.  But there are so many things in life that you can't always rely on because of the amount of change involved.  For example, I used to listen to cassette tapes, I used to own a pet rock, and I used to wear bell bottom jeans.  At one time all of these things were very popular but they are rare if found at all today.  With all of the things that change in life it is good to know that God's Word does not change and God's Word is always something we can focus on and follow with success.

Many people have problems because what they are using as a foundation for their life is not stable and secure, like God's Word.  People try to do something to fit in only to find that as soon as they think they fit in the style has changed.  Others try to stay current with the latest popular culture or trend in the world and then they find out something "new" has come along and now they are out of it again.  If we try to base our life on all of the things in the world that are subject to change we will certainly live a frustrating life. 

God's Word is settled, forever.  There are no new updates for God's Word, it has not changed or been revised and it never will be.  God's Word is always relevant and useful for our daily lives.  God's Word is the only stable thing that we can base the course of our life on.  True success and happiness in life is only going to come by knowing, understanding, and following God's Word.  If it seems like your life has just been a series of ups and downs then get off of the roller coaster of passing fads and get connected with the Word of God, that is the only way to truly stay on the right course in life.

Walking In Love - By Faith

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love."
Galatians 5:6 (NKJV)

Everyone knows someone who is not so loveable.  Whether it is a family member, a coworker, a neighbor, or even someone in our church, we have all met people who have been difficult to get along with.  Sometimes we even go so far as to find a way, if possible, to avoid that person rather than deal with them.  While this type of person can be a challenge for us, we need to realize that no matter what other people do and how they act we don't have to let their bad attitude or actions dominate our life.  No matter how the other person acts we can still walk in love and treat them right and do good to them.

Galatians 5:6 gives us a key that can help us, faith works through love and love can work through faith.  God's love is already in us (Romans 5:5) so we don't need to get more love, we just need to use what we have.  One problem is that we are often looking at our feelings and having a hard time dealing with them.  We need to move past our feelings and act on the love of God that is in us, by faith.  We may never be able to do anything to change how the other person acts but we can act the right way and treat them the way we would if we really did have the feelings of love for them. 

The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrated His love for us in sending Jesus to die for us when we were sinners and we did not deserve His love.  This is an example for us to follow.  God acted the right way towards us and showed us love even when we did not deserve it or respond properly and this is what we need to do.  Others may not respond the right way but when we walk in love it opens the door for God to work in the situation and it will help us with the unpleasant feelings we have towards the other person.  If we release the love of God that we have in us towards other people, no matter how they act, we are walking in love and walking with God.

Crossing To The Other Side

"Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, Let us cross over to the other side of the lake. And they launched out."
Luke 8:22 (NKJV)

Luke 8 records the story of Jesus and His disciples crossing a lake in a boat, which was a fairly normal means of travel for them.  Today we don't travel with boats as much as we use cars, airplanes, and even trains to get where we are going.  We don't plan to live in the car, airplane, or train, they are just methods that we use to go from one place to another.  I have traveled by car, airplane, and train to various places and while not every one of those experiences has been the most wonderful and exciting time of my life I did reach my destination.

In the story from Luke 8 we see that as Jesus and the disciples were in the boat crossing the lake a storm came up.  The storm caused some concern for the disciples but Jesus helped them get to the other side, which was the whole reason for the trip in the first place.  What if the disciples had known for certain that the storm was coming and had said they did not want to travel in the boat?  They may have reached their destination by foot but it would have taken them much longer to walk around the lake than to travel over it by boat.

Just like disciples we will all go through some situations and experiences that are not so pleasant.  But, if we remember that Jesus is with us and that He will help us we can keep the right perspective.  The disciples began to panic in their situation because they started looking at the circumstances and they forget where they were going.  We need to trust God and stay with His Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit to get where we need to go.  If we just panic and get scared at the first sign of trouble and then quit we may never reach our destination.  No matter where we are in life we need to realize that God is on our side and He will help us to safely and successfully reach the destination of where we need to be in life.

Sometimes It Is Best To Say Nothing

"If you have been foolish in exalting yourself, or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth."
Proverbs 30:32 (NKJV)

Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.  Too often people just talk without any thought about what they are saying and what effect their words will have.  It is one thing to just talk but it is something else to actually have words that are valuable and proper to speak in a given situation.  Proverbs 30 gives us a good guideline for our words; if we have said something foolish or have had some wrong thoughts the best thing to do is to stop talking!  Instead of just going on and on talking and making a mess of things it is sometimes best to just not say anything until we are sure we have something good to say.

In Mark 9 we read the story of Jesus being transfigured on the mountain.  Peter, James, and John were with Jesus when this event took place; Peter began to talk and said that maybe they should set up some tents or something.  It is not exactly clear what Peter was talking about but we do know that the Bible says Peter was afraid and did not really know what to say.  It would have been better at that moment for Peter to just be quiet and do as God told them when He said, "This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!"  It would have been better for Peter to stop talking and just listen. 

We have all been in situations where we start talking and soon realize that what we said was the wrong thing to say.  Are we like Peter and we don't know what to say and so we just say something because we are afraid or uncomfortable in the situation?  Do we let our emotions get the best of us and we just blurt out something that we later regret?  As one wise person said, you can almost always say something later, but once you say something you can't take it back.  The best thing is to be careful with the words we say, to ourselves and to others, to choose our words wisely and realize that sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.

God Can Do More Than We Think

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,"
Ephesians 3:20 (NKJV)

God is a big God!  He is bigger than any of us realize and certainly bigger than any situation or problem we face.  God is big enough to be able to help us overcome anything we face and to enable us to do anything and everything He leads us to do.  Sometimes the problem is that we limit what God can do in our lives by what we think, what we have experienced in the past, and what we see happening around us.  We have to realize that God can do even more than we can think or dream!  The question is not if God is big enough but if we can really believe what He has said in His Word.

One key to this is renewing our mind with God's Word.  If our thinking is completely different than God's thinking we will always struggle with the possibilities available with God.  If we think small, and we dream small, then our expectation from God will also be small.  But if we understand that God has a great plan for us, then we will begin to dream big dreams for God.  The great thing is that no matter what big dream we might have, or what we want to do for God, that God is even bigger than that and can do even more than what we ask or think.

God has things that He wants to do in our lives and things He wants us to do for Him.  The biggest limitation that God has is with us and our thinking.  The only reason that God is not doing more in some people's lives is because they have limited Him with their thinking; their expectation of what God can do is too small.  We need to take off the limits that we have built up in our mind and renew our mind with God's Word and dream big dreams for God.  God is able to exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think; let's all believe for big things with God!

Helping To Support Others Through Prayer

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon! Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."
Luke 22:31, 32 (NKJV)

The Bible is very clear about the fact that we have an enemy, the devil.  The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8 that "the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour"; the devil is actively seeking people to attack.  There are some different methods that he will use to try to attack us but his goal is always the same, to separate us from God and His Word.  If the devil can separate us from these things we are going to be easy prey for deception and destruction.  The good news is that Jesus has already defeated the devil and we can do something about the devil's tactics.

In Luke 22 Jesus was celebrating the Passover with His disciples.  Jesus began to explain how He was going to be betrayed and put to death.  He also said something very interesting to Peter that we can learn an important lesson from.  Jesus told Peter that Satan desired to "sift him as wheat".  This is referring to the process of separating the wheat from the chaff by shaking it.  This is a picture of what the devil tries to do in the lives of believers today; the devil wants to shake people loose from their connection to God, His Word, their local church, and other believers.

Many Christians, especially when they are "young" believers, do not yet have a solid foundation in God's Word and they are easily shaken by trials, temptations, offense, and problems.  Just like a child in the natural needs support from their older siblings and adults so do spiritual children.  Just like Jesus did with Peter, we need to pray for the stability of believers and support them with our prayers. We can pray that God would help these believers to keep the truth in mind and not yield to the pressure they may be facing. Through our prayers we can help believers to be stable and strong in the face of temptations, tests, and trials.  Jesus did it for Peter and we can do it too.

God's Favorite Child

"For there is no partiality with God."
Romans 2:11 (NKJV)

There are some situations in life where one person is preferred above another.  Someone may have access to a place because they either work there or they have been granted special permission by someone else.  Another example is how a person who is someone's friend will be allowed to do some things that another person is not, just because of that friendship.  While these things do happen in life it is good to know that with God there is no special access or privilege for one person over another.

God loves and cares the same for all of His children.  Many Christians read stories in the Bible about some man or woman who did great things for God and think that this man or woman was in some special relationship with God.  Sometimes Christians look at Jesus and think that because He was and is God's only begotten Son that Jesus was God's favorite child and God loves Jesus more than anyone.  But, Jesus Himself said in His prayer in John 17 that God loves all of His children just as much as He loved Jesus!

So why is it that some believers have things working better in their lives than others?  It is not because some Christians have a special relationship with God and they are His favorite child, but because these believers have learned the truth of who God is and what He provided through Jesus.  We have favor and access to God because of Jesus and not based on who we are or what we have done.  The reason that Jesus and others people in the Bible did great things for God is because those people understood their relationship to God and knew that God would honor His Word when someone acted on it in faith.  God is our Father and we are all His favorite child and His Word works the same for all of us!

We Need To Know The Whole Counsel Of God

"Jesus answered and said to them, You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God."
Matthew 22:29 (NKJV)

There is an interesting story in Matthew 22 about a group of people who came to ask Jesus a question.  These people, called the Sadducees, were part of a religious group that did not believe in the resurrection of the dead, but they were asking Jesus a question about what happens to people after the resurrection.  What a strange topic for them to bring up.  But, they did not really want to learn anything or have an actual answer to a real question; they were only trying to justify themselves and their beliefs while putting Jesus down.

These Sadducees were more well versed in their beliefs and opinions than what God had actually said.  They did not really have an understanding of the Word of God.  If they had been as informed about the entire Old Testament as they were about their own group's beliefs and opinions about the Old Testament they would not have said what they said.  Jesus told them they were mistaken because they did not know the Scriptures.  They knew part of the Scripture, the part that fit their beliefs, but they did not know the whole counsel of God, as Paul called it in Acts 20:27.

Just like the Sadducees, too many believers only know small portions of the Bible and those are usually the parts they like the best, they don't know the whole counsel of God.  Too few Christians have a regular time of reading and studying the Word for themselves, they don't really know the Scriptures.  We need to be people who know the Word of God for ourselves and are well acquainted with it from having spent time with it on a regular basis.  We should all make it a habit to spent time with God through His Word, this will help us in our life and we will avoid making mistakes like the Sadducees did.