How Big is Your God?

Perception is everything.

In the parable of the talents, the attitude of the one who received the one talent says it all.  "Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed."  Because of his perception of the character of his master, he was afraid and hid his talent instead of thankfully using it and being productive with his gift.

A student who blatantly talks during class and ignores the rules is convinced that teachers are against him and always picking on him.  As a result, he refuses to take correction and continues to be his own worst enemy by getting in trouble and causing others around him to resent his interference.  A homeless person feels that his loss of family, home, and job is due to someone else being cruel to him and his "bad luck."  The criminal thinks the system is unfair and wonders why he is being punished when the other guy who did worse got away with it.  In other words, we haven't changed since the days of Adam and Eve, who conveniently found someone else to blame: "It was the fault of the woman that You God gave me."  "It was the serpent who deceived me."  In each of these examples, the perception or mind set of the individual creates an excuse that justifies his wrong choices.  

Scripture points out that our natural mind is darkened, so naturally verses like Romans 12 clearly instruct us to be renewed in our mind so that we are not like the world in our thinking.  How big is your God?  Does He cause you to walk in favor with God and man?  Do you enjoy His fresh mercy every morning and are you able to declare His faithfulness every night?  Do you in your heart know that He is making all things work for good in your life?  All these "renewed" thoughts come from receiving the Word of God with meekness rather than depending on our own thoughts and feelings.  Fallen nature always thinks our way is right. 

Jesus told several people "be it done to you according to your faith."  Therefore, letting the Word of God "dwell in you richly" makes all the difference in the outcome.  Likewise, in John 15:7, Jesus states that our prayer will be answered and we will be fruitful, "If you abide in Me and My words abide in you."  How we perceive God and how we allow the Word of God to be our truth is foundational to having right attitudes and correct actions.  

Simply start each day choosing to let your thoughts and ways be renewed by His revealed truth of who He is and what He has done.  As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.  Our perception of God and His goodness will allow us to glorify Him in what we do and to enjoy His glorious provision.  

  

 

Wait upon the Lord

  The Isaiah 40 song "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles..." came into my mind this morning, and then in reading Billy Wilson's book, "Gen Z: Born for the Storm," that same theme was repeated. It was the Holy Spirit's way of reminding me that clearly God honors those who receive the Word with meekness, who humble themselves to receive from Him.  

Part of the fall was yielding to Satan's temptation, "you shall be like God."  The great deception is that fallen man now pridefully thinks he is God, and that his opinion is all that matters.  However, God in Isaiah 55 is strong to declare that "HIs thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways."  Therefore, realizing that we need to humble ourselves and let His truth renew our mind and heart in taking time to "wait upon the Lord" is the attitude that God honors with strength, power, and understanding (Isaiah 40:29-31).  

Paul reinforces this principle in Romans 12, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."  As we humbly present ourselves to God, the key to surrender is letting the Word of God transform our thinking from the arrogance of man's thoughts to the simple truth of God which stands forever.  In short, according to Romans 3:4, let God be true and every man a liar.

It is difficult to "walk through the valley of death" where man's pride thinks he can alter God's plan for male and female, His statute for marriage, His command not to kill babies, and even the arrogance of man to change what the Word reveals about the nature of God.  So many issues and divisions are directly stemmed to man's pride in thinking his thoughts are always right.  However, God is not mocked, and foolish man will never overcome Him whose truth abides forever. Psalm 119:78 states, "Let the proud be put to shame; for they have overthrown me wrongfully."  

One translation of Isaiah 40 states they that "hope" in the Lord.  Hope and wait have the same root and source, depending upon God to confirm His Word.  Therefore, choose to depend upon God as you cast your cares upon Him, seek Him for wisdom, and let His Word dwell in you richly.  Those who choose to let His "being Lord" go beyond just words but also to be truly yielding will give Him permission and wait on Him to direct their thoughts and ways. 

Do you Write?

 Teach me Your way, O Lord, that I may walk and live in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11   Added to this request is the result that flows from God doing this good work in us.  "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me."

When we let God teach us and we choose to receive His Word with meekness, our hearts are transformed or "healed" to realize He is worthy of all our affection.  Sometimes we let other things in our minds and hearts and simply forget what we read and how good He is. Therefore, it is necessary for God to unite the various desires of our heart, or at least refocus on what really matters, so we can praise Him with all our heart. 

Which brings me to my question for the day: Do you write?  God told Moses to write a book of remembrance.   In Habakkuk 2:2 God instructs the prophet to "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it."  Likewise, Psalm 103 reminds us to "forget not His benefits."  I suggest the reason God's Word tells us to "write" and "forget not" is because in the fallen human condition we do forget.  We can look in the mirror of God's perfect law of liberty and forget what we look like, according to James.

Here are two suggestions and my reasons for establishing this practice.  First, whenever I sit down to write this blog, it forces me to seek God and decide in my heart what I believe He is saying.  Writing it down and sharing with you actually settles the truth for me!  Secondly, as a high school teacher, I require my students to take notes rather than just think they are going to remember what is said.  Therefore, I suggest that having a notebook and jotting down the key points that the Holy Spirit is giving you is a powerful way to not only hear God, but then to "walk and live in Your truth."   This is also a helpful way to "let the Word dwell in you richly," as instructed in Colossians 3:16.

God's voice is so much closer than we think.  He lives in us and prompts our every thought and desire.  "In Him we live and move and have our being," according to Acts.  However, we are required to take every thought captive to obey Christ, because Jesus stated that we know the Shepherd's voice but do not know the voice of strangers.  This suggests discernment or choosing the right one and rejecting the wrong one.  Rather than just having a myriad of different thoughts or voices, writing, to the best of our discernment what we believe or determine is God's voice, helps us focus on the truth.  Writing this message down also reinforces our thought process to remember and think about what He is saying to us. 

 

Humble man asks and depends upon God to teach us.  However, we also want to be faithful like Mary "treasuring the word" and like Samuel who "didn't let a word from God drop to the ground."  Receive the Word, write it down, and let the Word dwell in you richly.  These simple steps will cause you to grow in wisdom, understanding, and especially in bearing fruit. 

Let him hear

“Did you hear what I just said? What did I just say?” the frustrated teacher responds to the disobedient student. Training children to listen and actually follow instructions is the challenge of every parent, teacher, or coach.
The amazing thing is that Jesus had the same problem with adults. He would state a life-giving truth and then conclude “he who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:9) He even quotes the prophecy of Isaiah (6:9-10) that states men will hear and not understand, see and not perceive, because “their hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes are closed.”
Why is it so hard for people to hear? The Isaiah verse Jesus quoted gives some pertinent insight. It points out that a choice is involved. The people have hardened their hearts, meaning they don’t want to be affected or corrected. Likewise, closing their eyes and becoming hard of hearing suggest that one deliberately chooses to refuse to see and hear, usually because it would require a change of attitude, thinking, and behavior. Man doesn’t want to change. Man wants to do things his own way, he wants to be God.
God calls us to repent. Repent means to change our inner heart and attitude, and then carry out this different way of thinking through deliberate different actions. God’s thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than our ways. He looks for the person who has “a humble and contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.” (Isaiah 66:2) When someone humbly lays down his own thoughts and honestly seeks truth and life from God’s thoughts, then God is free to let His presence and power work mightily in that life.
How can anyone know what God is really saying? Jesus said in John 7:17 that if anyone’s will is to do the will of the Father, he will know whether the teaching is from God or man. The real question that determines whether we hear is not the volume of the words that falls on our ears, but rather the inner willingness to obey what is spoken.
So the point is, what are you willing to hear? Do you desire God to speak into your life? Have you taken time this morning to read His word with an attitude of wanting to let His thoughts and desires become yours? John Wesley always knelt down to read the word because he wanted to be in a position of surrender to God’s will. When you tremble before the majesty and authority of God’s word, your ears will be attentive and you will hear.