Sounds good – let’s all do whatever works for us. Then we’ll all be happy.
Or not.
“In those days Israel had no king: everyone did as they saw fit”. Judges 21:25. This is how the book of Judges ends. It may sound good until we scan back a couple of chapters and realize what they thought was ‘fit’ to do.
Family members were stealing from each other. They obviously thought this was an ok thing to do.
Family members were kidnapping each other. They thought this was ok as well.
Family members were killing each other to the point that they virtually annihilated one of the 12 tribes of Israel. I wonder how they could possibly think this was ok but they did. They could rationalize anything. Their moral judgement was quickly spirally into total chaos and confusion.
Because they had no compass.
Sounds familiar? Our current culture obviously has many of these same issues.
Why?
When I base what is right and wrong on what I think, I’m in trouble. Then I’m just like these Israelites – doing what I see fit and letting my standards waiver in whatever direction the wind is blowing. When I do what I think is right, it can hurt you as well. My bad decisions have a lot of consequences.
God has been very clear to you and me on moral boundaries. His Word to us is full of direction and guidance. I might not like all of it. You may not agree with all of it. But that doesn’t change his Word to us.
The image of standing under an umbrella of God’s Blessing is stuck my head and reminds me that one of my main goals in life is to stay in line with God. When I obey God and follow the compass he has given me, I am placing my life under his umbrella of blessing. When I don’t obey God and just do what I want to do, I am stepping out from under his umbrella. I can’t expect God to bless my decisions and life when I’m not obeying him.
One example is tithing. If we have put our faith in God, we also want to put our money in his hands. This means being faithful with tithing. We can’t expect God to bless our finances if we don’t.
It’s my choice and I choose to obey so I stay under the umbrella – every hour of every day.
What do you choose?
Dear Father, I desire to walk in your path of truth. Please guide me because your moral standards are what ‘fits’ me best.
I often ask God to direct my steps. My prayers regularly include requests for him to show me an opportunity to do what he wants me to do.
Because I’ll do it – I just want to know that its his direction and his timing.
And God responds. Right before my eyes, he will give me an opportunity to do something he wants done or say something he wants said.
Every time one of these opportunities presents itself, I have to take the first step of faith forward, not knowing what the next step is and never knowing how this is all going to work out.
I just have to take that first step and obey.
I learned this from the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. God told the priests carrying the Ark of the LORD to go first. God told them he would make a way for them but, first, they had to step into the Jordan. “Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during the harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.” Joshua 3: 15-16.
The overflowing water of the Jordan river was roaring down its path…..
and they had to step in.
An act of faith. An act of obedience.
As soon as the priest’s feet touched the water’s edge, the water stopped flowing. They had to commit and then they saw God respond. In the middle of a rushing river, God opened up a path for them to the Promised Land.
It’s important for you and I to understand how this process works. Too often we want to see God move in our lives but we haven’t stepped out in faith. We want God to invite us to do great things but we haven’t stepped up to the plate on the things we already know God wants us to do.
For example, Jesus told us clearly, “Love God and love others.” These are the two main things I need to be about – I already know that. No question about it. I find that when I’m focused on doing these things that God has already told me to do, I see God part the waters for me. He blesses my last step and reveals my next step.
But the first step of obedience is mine. The first step is your’s.
Where is God asking you to take that first step of obedience? Go ahead – step into the water and watch it part in front of you. It will be worth it.
This is how it works when you and I are soaking in God’s Word everyday.
I am reading Deuteronomy 31 today and it’s a “God-incidence” that various combinations of the the words, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. The Lord your God will be with you’ are repeated 3 times in one chapter. The Israelites were getting ready to enter the Promised Land which is already filled with large armies of men who aren’t going to give it up their land easily. It was going to be a long-term challenge that would require strength and courage.
First, Moses spoke to all the Israelites and said,” Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.” vs 6.
Then, Moses summoned Joshua whom God had picked to be the next leader of his people and said to him in front of all the people, ” Be strong and courageous for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” vs 7-8.
Finally, God said to Joshua , “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.” vs 23.
I’m hearing you, God. I’ve got my own ‘long-term challenge’ starting up and I’m going to need a lot of strength and courage from God. I have been writing this blog for over 10 years and it has been a big blessing in my life. Almost 6 years ago my world blew up when my son, David Glasser, who was a Phoenix Police Officer, was killed in the line of duty. About 6 months after his death, God told me to start another blog about the painful, uphill battle of picking up my broken heart and moving forward after losing a child – My Family Bleeds Blue.com.
Since then, many people have told me that I should write a book about this tough, tough road of grief and loss that I am on. My reply has always been that God told me to write the blog, I’m going to wait until he tells me to write the book. Well, he did that last week. It’s time for a book.
It’s a huge project. A long-term challenge. You can add me to your prayer list if you’d like.
I’m not the only one that God has given big challenges. There is a reason why you are reading this today. It’s a God-incidence. What big issues or projects are you facing in your life? Are there huge problems where you need strength and courage from God?
God is saying to me and to you –
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. The Lord your God will be with you.
God asks you and I, “Do you want to be blessed?” He tells us how in Leviticus 26.
As I read this passage in his Word, this is what I hear from God –
If you are careful to obey my commands, I will shower my blessings upon you.
You will be fruitful and prosperous.
I will keep you safe.
I will bless you with peace. You will sleep well – not fearful of anything.
I will remove all threat to your safety from your life. Your enemies will fail.
Don’t worry about being outnumbered by the evil ones – I am on your side. I will look upon you as my favorite child – providing for you and always being faithful.
My blessings will overflow in your life – one on top of another.
I will walk with you and live with you. I will be your God and you will be my child.
I am the Lord your God who sent my only son to die for you so you might believe and live with me forever. I gave you freedom so you can choose to stand faultless before me. You can choose to walk closely beside me everyday. You can choose to love me and listen to me.
It has been hard in the past to make decisions about next steps when I don’t know how it’s all going to work out. There have been times in my life when the ‘unknowns’ created a lot of anxiety and fear.
I love reading about Abram’s (soon to be Abraham) decision-making in Genesis. First, God tells Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.” Genesis 12:1.
No forwarding address on that one. Just go. I’ll tell you when to stop.
And the Bible tells us in verse 4, “So Abram went.” Wow! Abram is a good role-model here for how much he trusted God.
This is my 11th year of reading the entire Bible and it is comforting to realize how much my faith and trust in God has grown as I’ve read and applied God’s word to my life. I experienced something similar to Abram’s 2 years ago when God told me to move from Phoenix to Denver. What? I had been living in Phoenix for over 40 years and had never once thought about moving to Denver even though my daughter and her family were now living there.
I prayed about it overnight and knew that I needed to do what God was asking me to do. I have learned from experience that the only way I can expect God’s blessings in my life is to be obedient.
Then I shared what God was saying with my husband who prayed about it and the next day he said, “We need to go.” He has also learned the importance of obedience.
We heard and we went.
We put our house in Phoenix up for sale and I heard God telling me not to buy a house in Denver until we actually moved. So we moved while our house was under contract and arrived in Denver on March 17, 2020 – just as everything was shutting down because of the pandemic.
We know you’ve got this, Father God.
We were ‘homeless’ during the weeks of being sheltered in. The first house we looked at in Denver was the right size and the right price and the right place and God said ‘yes’ so we bought it – getting a great deal on it since a lot of people were backing away from buying houses because of the uncertainty.
We knew you had something good waiting for us, Father.
These last 2 years, I have continually seen God’s hand on our lives. There have been many situations – one after another – where I know God moved us to Denver ‘for such a time as this’. He had a purpose for bringing us to this new city and he had blessings lined up if we would obey.
I have discovered that it’s not so hard anymore making decisions when I don’t know how it’s all going to work out. God knows and I trust him. I don’t experience the anxiety or fear I used to have because I know God is in control and he is working it all out for my good. I just need to listen and do what he says.
Thank you for taking away my fear of the unknowns, Abba Father.
on the door of an unjust judge. Until he gave in and gave her justice.
How much more will my Father God, who loves me, give me when I ask?
How much more does he have waiting for you when you pray and never give up?
Understanding parable of the Persistent Widow in God’s Word and applying it to my situations changed my life. Jesus tells the story about a widow looking for justice and knocking on on the door of the unjust judge – over and over and over – until he decided to give it to her just to get rid of her. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you , he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Luke 18: 7-8.
Several times Jesus addressed this same topic. One of my favorites – “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11: 9 -10.
This is my answer. When I’m stuck, when I’m frustrated, when I have no idea what to do – go to God and keep asking until I get an answer.
Now, I know. When I’m in those situations, I remember the Persistent widow and it reminds me that God has all of the right answers.
I just need to ask. And keep asking. And keep asking.
I ask knowing he will answer. I ask knowing that he will guide me in the next step. I ask knowing that he has determined the right path for my life. I ask because I know he has chosen me and he has great plans for me.
As I persist in seeking God…
asking….
believing….
knowing….
he always answers. Always. Because he loves me and only wants the best for me.
When I have something big going on – something scary – something overwhelming….I pray.
And I keep praying.
I have had some very memorable days in my life which started in despair and fear and confusion but ended in peace with a plan and a smile because God answered my 200+ prayers that day. Often I started the day asking for something specific that he didn’t want to give me. By the end of the day, he hadn’t changed my circumstances. He changed my thinking, my perspective and my goal. He reminded me that he is in control.
When I persist in turning to God for wisdom, direction and strength he gives me all that I need and somuch more.
When I see something that needs to done or fixed, my first inclination is to make a plan, figure it out and get it done. Are you a ‘fixer’ like me?
God regularly stops me and tells me there is a better way. He challenges me to bring the issue that is bothering me to him and let him take care of it. He promises that the outcome will be better if I let him take control.
So I have to smile as I read Zechariah’s story in the book of Luke. Zechariah was a priest. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were old and childless when the angel of the LORD appeared to him. Yes, Gabriel showed up again.
Zechariah was “gripped with fear” when he saw Gabriel. Angels like Gabriel must be awesome creatures because the first thing they always say to us humans is, “Fear not”. Then Gabriel went on to tell Zechariah that he and Elizabeth were going to have a son who was going to do great things for God. They were to name this son John and he was going to prepare the way for the Messiah.
Immediately, Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” Luke 1:18. He and his wife were obviously way too old to have a baby.
Gabriel looked at him (how I see this in my head – rolled his eyes and, with a hint of frustration in his voice), said, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and tell you this good news. Now you will be silent and not speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will be come true at their appointed time.” Luke 1:18.
Zechariah could not speak again until the baby was born. He had to watch and wait.
I have learned that sometimes I need to stop asking questions, trust God and watch him work things out for my good right in front of my eyes – through his power and on his own timeline.
I’m not very patient. How much patience do you have?
It can be very difficult for me to wait for God to move but, when he does, it’s the right thing at the right time, every time. It’s truly amazing to watch as God opens doors, moves mountains and orchestrates blessings in my life.
I’ll admit, this hasn’t been an easy lesson for me to learn. I had to grow my trust in God to the point where I can give him my problems, issues and situations and leave it all in his hands. And watch. And wait until he shows me which door he is opening for me.
it’s the big equalizer among all of us. You have 24 hours in a day and I have 24 hours in a day.
So the ‘I don’t have time for God’ excuse just doesn’t fly. We all have 24 hours and some of us find regular time with God.
Yes, I know all of our situations are different – work schedules, kid’s schedules, and all kinds of commitments fill our calendars. That’s where the challenge comes – how we choose to fill our calendars. Because it’s a choice.
I am now in a very blessed time of my life in relation to time because I am retired. I retired 4 years ago and I love my new schedule. This cannot possibly be my life now! My calendar is 99% filled with things I want to do. I have a lot of time for God.
But this was not true of my life before retirement. I worked for 34 1/2 years straight for Corporate Jack in the Box. I was married with a 9 month-old child when I started working for Jack and had another baby 4 years later. I traveled a lot and got promoted regularly gaining more and more responsibility working on a goal of becoming a VP.
With a husband who worked, 2 kids, a house, a dog and a 60-hour workweek, you can imagine my life. And right in the middle of all of that, God challenged me to put him first. I had been running on empty for quite awhile at that time and I was not happy when I realized that this is how the rest of my life could be. So when I heard God offer me the only way I was going to find joy and purpose in the middle of this craziness, I accepted the challenge.
And I began to reorganize my priorities. I changed my focus from my career onto my relationship with God. I started using my time differently – I stopped working 60 hours a week. I cut down to 40 or 45 hours a week, always used all of my vacation days to spend with my family and asked God to take care of the next raise or promotion. Interesting – I performed better when I worked less and I ended up with a career that blessed my family instead of taking away from my family.
My husband was also trying to put God first so we worked together to unpack our schedules. We decided our kids could be in one sport OR one lesson at a time. We totally revamped our weekends. We stopped planning anything on Saturday night that would make us too tired to get up for church on Sunday. Our family started doing all our chores on Saturday, leaving Sunday open for worship and time with our personal and spiritual families. Sunday afternoon became a great family time in the pool or playing games as well as Bible study small groups. Sunday became our God and family day – all day. My two top priorities. How great is that?
I admit, it was hard for me to find my personal time with God during the week. I have never been a ‘get up at 4 am to read my Bible type of person’. It just doesn’t work for me – I’m a ‘get up at 4 am and go right to work’ person. I’m also not a ‘read a devotional every day’ type person. I don’t get much from that, I want to dig deeper.
So in the middle of the busiest time of my life, I would try to find an hour here or there during the week with God, knowing that I was going to dedicate Sunday to him. I believe God honored my desire to spend time with him and helped make all the things I had to accomplish on Saturday go quickly because, somehow, I would often find an extra hour or two I could spend with God on Saturday as well. I hardly ever watched TV until the kids left home for college – it’s amazing how much time you have when you shut that thing off. Spending so much one on one time with God helped me hear him much better and eventually led to this blog.
I find it interesting to read when Nehemiah confronts the leaders in Jerusalem , “Why is the house of God neglected?” Nehemiah 13: 11. They had stopped supporting the Levites so the Levites had to go get jobs and were unable to serve in the temple. Everyone had started working on the Sabbath – selling all sorts of produce and merchandise inside the walls of Jerusalem.
This could not go on so Nehemiah shut the gates to Jerusalem when Sabbath started and they stayed closed until the Sabbath ended. He put guards on the gates and told everyone to start bringing their tithes to the temple again and start supporting the Levites so they could go back to their temple duties.
He shut the gates.
I feel like that is exactly what I had to do to find significant time to spend with God. I had to shut the gates on all the other things that me and my family could do on Sundays. I had to shut the gates to the things my family could do that would keep us out late or up late on Saturday. I had to reorganize Saturdays to make significant room for God in my weekends. Looking back, I feel like this re-prioritizing was a blessing for my entire family because it slowed down our Sundays and we had more quality time with each other.
When the path right in front of me looks like its straight up hill.
When the issue confronting me is big
and confusing
and scary
and heart-breaking.
When I am threatened on all sides by more problems, more sadness, more darkness.
What am I supposed to do?
When Nehemiah found himself in this type of situation, he turned to God and prayed “Now strengthen my hands.”(6:9)
Nehemiah had groups of powerful people plotting against him as he led the Jews in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. His enemies were trying to frighten the Jews so their hands would become too weak to continue to work on the wall. But God answered Nehemiah’s prayers and the wall was eventually finished.
Is there something in your life that looks like its impossible to accomplish? Impossible to fix?
Give it to God. Ask him to strengthen your hands and then trust that he is answering. He may use you like he did Nehemiah to actually orchestrate the answer. Or he may want your strong hands to be folded in prayer before him, admitting your dependence on him and remaining faithful while he works all things out for your good.
When God breathed into them – “they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.” Ezekiel 37:10.
Wow!!
Growing up in church, I always thought this vision of Ezekiel should be preached around Halloween because a valley full of dry bones suddenly connecting and standing up is weird as well as scary.
How time changes things! Now I love this visual because it’s exactly what happened when I turned over my whole heart to God. His breath went deep into my soul and – for the first time – I was truly alive. I have an eternal purpose. I have been re-created into one of the soldiers in his army – wearing his armor and working hard next to my spiritual brothers and sisters to share the Good News and push back evil. Each day, I read and study God’s word – getting to know him better and listening as he speaks into my life.
Are you looking for purpose? Are you looking for guidance? Are you looking for hope?
God gives me hope. Not the ‘I wish’ kind of hope. This hope is cemented into my heart by the promises of God. I know who is in control and I know he is working everything out for my good. I know where I’m going when I leave this earth. I know who wins in the end.
God’s redeeming love has turned my dry bones into something good and useful. His breath moves in my heart and soul – bringing new life each day.
There are no dry bones here.
What about you? Would you like to experience a new breath of God’s spirit in your soul?
Thank you for your breath of real life, Abba Father.
Come with me on a Journey through the Bible 