Listen Up

 Job 34:10 So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong.

Instead of ascribing to the Lord understanding, counsel, wisdom and power as mentioned in yesterday’s verse, we often ascribe to him disaster, confusion, abandonment and wrongdoing.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

God is not evil; in fact, he is the definition and embodiment of all that is good.

God cannot participate in wrongdoing on the earth, or in our lives.

Therefore, when there is evil around and disaster and fear – that is not God’s doing. 

God sent his son Jesus to right all wrongs – namely sin. Right now, the earth is still subject to the laws of man, and any wrongdoing comes from the evil that is in the heart of man.

However, if we are men/women of understanding, we will know that a day is coming when all wrongs will be righted.  We serve a God who does right, a God of justice, a God of righteousness.

If we start to think anything other than that truth, we are not understanding God at all.

The Bookends

Job 12:13 says To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.

Let’s pick apart this verse.

To God – this ascribes to him all that he owns and is.

Belongs wisdom and power – He alone is wise and has the power to bring about his purposes in our lives, those purposes that are good.

Belongs counsel and understanding – He alone can guide us and know us, and bring us into maturity and a place that’s good.

Are his – the other bookend to this passage – God is at the beginning and the end of all wisdom, power, counsel and understanding.

And when we are sandwiched in between, ascribing to him all of these things, we stand upright and never fall.

He Does

I Chronicles 28 says this …  acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you…

Did you know that God understands us more than our spouse does, more than our best friend does, and more than any counselor or guru does?

He understands our deepest desires and thoughts.  He searches our heart to see where there are holes and wounds, and he fills in and heals.

When we acknowledge God and serve him with “wholehearted” devotion (not a wishy washy maybe), and turn our minds to him willingly (not because we feel guilty but because He is good), we are wise and blessed.

Seek him.   Seek out his counsel.  Seek his will.  Seek his word.

He understands you.  He gets you.  He made you.  He loves you.

Success

I Chronicles 22 gives a directive to anyone who leads…

 Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build the house of the Lord your God, as he said you would. May the Lord give you discretion and understanding when he puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God.  Then you will have success if you are careful to observe the decrees and laws that the Lord gave Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

You want success in building your home?

You need success when managing those you work with?

You ask for success regarding your future?

May God gives us discretion and understanding…for what?

To keep his Word.

To observe his commands and words to us.

This takes courage, strength, bravery, and excitement – the opposites of fear and trembling.

Pray for God to enable you to obey his word.

And then watch the success come.

I Am

Deuteronomy 29:2

Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them…your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.”

I had to quickly repent when I read this passage!

God has given us all blessings in our lives, and yes – we’ve all had trials too.  But when trials come, we throw our understanding out the door and fail to see the goodness anymore.  All we see is the pain.

God provided his people with shoes and sandals that never wore out on their journey.  He provided every way of escape, and fulfilled every hunger and thirst.  And yet, they still didn’t understand or see who he was.

He was theirs, and they were his – they belonged to Him.  Therefore, nothing could harm them when they understood this truth.

I forget this truth often, when I start looking at the trials in my life and in the lives of others, wondering if God has abandoned us all.

I’m sorry Lord, because it is I who abandoned you in all of your goodness and love and mercy towards me…

The Fathers

Deuteronomy 9 says  It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people.  Remember this and never forget how you aroused the anger of the Lord your God in the wilderness. From the day you left Egypt until you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

Yikes, what a commentary from God himself!

God gave a promise and it was fulfilled in the children of those to whom the promise was made.  But it wasn’t fulfilled because of the children’s obedience, it was because of the fathers.

The children of Israel aroused the Lord’s anger by rebellion and murmuring and doubt.

He wanted them to understand that their blessings were not due to their own righteousness but due to His faithfulness to his promise.

Do you have children or plan on having them?  Get understanding that obeying and loving the Lord is paramount, if you want to see your children and their children and their children “take possession of their land.”

This Will Show It

Deuteronomy 4 says See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him?

When we follow and obey the Word in our lives, this enables us to take possession of that which God has for us.  In fact, when we follow his Word, this shows others that we are wise and have understanding.

It doesn’t mean we understand the mysteries of life.

It means we understand the importance of obedience.

And that is often more important than any understanding we can seek to have.

When we understand that following his Word brings life, and then we choose to obey it, our understanding is complete.

Maybe we’re praying for the wrong kind of understanding…

Maybe...

I desire to understand things, the why’s of life, why God answers some prayers and not others (or does he really answer all of them, we just don’t like his answers?), and why bad things happen to good people.

So here we go, searching for “understanding” in the Bible.

The first mention of the word “understand” is in Genesis 11.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech… “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”  So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

What a story!

People wanted to make a name for themselves, and build themselves a city…to exalt what THEY were doing.

That sort of scenario is never a good thing, because what we build and what we boast about never stands firm.

God stopped the process, not because he’s mean, but because they were setting up their own demise.

He took away their understanding of each other.

Maybe, just maybe…when we don’t understand…it’s because our motives and schemes are in the way.  And maybe, just maybe…the destruction of what we’re building is really a blessing in disguise…so that God can be exalted and our lives can be blessed.

Without It

I John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Four times the word “fear” is in this verse.

If fear is present in our hearts, then,

We are not experiencing His love

We are holding onto lies that keep the fear near

We are living with a mentality of being a slave, one who is punished

We are not realizing that we are perfect in his sight

And it’s all because of Jesus...

Do you know him?  

He loves you, his love is perfect, he is not out to get you, and he wants you to live without the presence of…fear.

Like Sarah

August 21

I Peter 3:6 says like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Remember Sarah?  She was super old when she gave birth to a son, one that was promised to her.  But remember her fear that God wouldn’t come through on what he promised? She had her husband sleep with the servant, just in case God didn’t give her the son he said he would.

But she is remembered for her obedience, not for her lack of faith.  That’s the beauty of walking with Him – he remembers when we trust him – not when are afraid of him.

We too can “do what is right” – trust and obey

We too can “not give way to fear” – try to manipulate an answer

We too can experience his promises for us – just like he says he will do.

God’s promises are in his word.  Read them and believe them.  For you and your family.

Sonship

Romans 8:15 says The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

If you feel like a slave, like you’re in bondage, like you’re doing the same hard labor without being noticed or recognized, if your back is breaking and you’re about to fall – that’s is NOT the life He has for you.

The Spirit that lives in you does NOT make you feel all of those things that a slave feels – one who is in bondage and abused.  That sort of mentality does breed fear.

But RATHER…

The Spirit that lives in us has brought us into sonship – we belong to the FATHER. “Abba” is an intimate term for Father – it denotes relationship – one of father/daughter or father/son.

If we haven’t experienced a good relationship with our earthly father, we often feel the same frustration with our heavenly father.

So we just have to recognize that our good Father does not treat us like a slave – but rather as his own – one who belongs to him and enjoys everything he has in his house.

Do not fear.  Your Father loves you because you bear his name.

Remember

Haggai 2:5 says, This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’

Remember those children of Israel, the ones who cried to be set free from living as slaves, the ones that God did set free?

God reminds them of his covenant – his promise.  

God’s promises are sure.  They are not like the promises made by man.  We forget, we are limited in our abilities, and we simply fail even at our best attempts sometimes.  But God doesn’t.

In fact, he reminds us that his Spirit is in us – to stay.

His promises to us are sure.

Therefore, because of these two things – we are told “do not fear.”

Remember God’s words and his promises, and stand on them.

And rest in peace.

Limp Hands

Zephaniah says …do not let your hands hang limp. The Lord your God is with you,

the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

Limp hands, wet dishrags, soggy bread – ewwww – none of those sounds appealing.

When our hands hang limp it signals that we are lacking joy, without expression, and hopeless, full of fear.

However, we are told here to not let our hands hang limp.

Why?

God is with us.  He is a Mighty Warrior (remember yesterday’s verse – he takes our case!). 

He saves us.  He delights in us.  He doesn’t scold us.

But instead, he sings over us joyful songs!

If you can’t hear those songs, tune in and listen.  Because your God, the one you trust and love, and the one who loves you, is singing.

Now lift up those hands and dance with him, clap for joy, and praise him.

YOU

Lamentations 3 says, You came near when I called you, and you said, “Do not fear.”

You, Lord, took up my case; you redeemed my life.

Oh my goodness, these verses instructing us to not fear are just some of the best!

Look how many times the word “you” appears here!  

Five times in this little verse we are directed to YOU – to the Lord.  It’s such a personal verse, a reminder that he near, that he is ours, and we are his.

He is never too far away to come when we call.

He comes when we call.

He takes our case – always.

He redeems us.

He says “do not fear,” and we don’t.

How beautiful.

One...to They

Jeremiah 17 says “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

I just noticed something amazing about this verse.  The first line says blessed is the “one” who trusts in the Lord…and the next sentence says, “they” will be like a tree…

When we place our trust in Him, he is with us, and we become “they” – isn’t that cool!  We are not alone when the heat comes, or when the drought appears, because we are planted with him.  Our roots run deep and we don’t fade, we don’t quite making fruit in our lives – even when surface level water is scarce!

The only trees that make it through drought are those with deep roots where the water sits, where it can freely drink.

And I love the fact that I’m never alone but He is with me, when I trust in Him, and he keeps me alive and well.

And…I do not need to fear.

Scarecrows

Jeremiah 10;5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, their idols cannot speak;

they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.” No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

This just might be my new favorite verse!

Next time you’re afraid of anything this world has to offer – fear of the future, fear of death, fear of loss, fear of calamity, etc. – picture this image:

A scarecrow in a cucumber field!

How silly it is to be afraid of a man-made little guy on a stick!  It cannot move, it cannot speak, and it certainly cannot affect our lives in any way, except give us something to chuckle at.

That’s the way it is with the things in this world that are placed right in our fields of plenty and where we are in full bloom, to scare us.

And once we realize this, we can go right over and pick it up and toss it aside – because it has no power to make us afraid.

Seasons Change

Jeremiah 5: 22, 23 says But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.  They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’

It’s plain stubbornness and rebellion when we do not remind ourselves of certain truths:

Seasons of drought end when the rains come.  And they do come…

Seasons of dormant and apparently dead growth give way to spring blooms.

Seasons of planting, though nothing is seen for a while, produces a harvest.

Seasons of intense heat are forgotten when the cool breezes blow.

There is a way to quiet our souls and reminds ourselves to not fear, and that is to realize that the Lord of the seasons is aware, he is in control, and all the colors of the seasons will give way to the next…

Because he set it up that way.