Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Leviticus, Chapters 24-25 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Leviticus 25: 23-24 : … [Stewardship] … 23 “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is Mine and you reside in My land as foreigners and strangers. 24 Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land.
My Journal for Today: In my reading/study of Leviticus, Chapters 24-25 this morning - about God’s instructions concerning stewardship and prudent management of God’s providence, verse 23 of Chapter 25 jumped out at me as a good highlight point for my meditation, … certainly speaking to my heart – with conviction - about stewardship.
STEWARDSHIP is a concept, which, from God’s instructions to His people in Leviticus, was obviously very important; but I’m afraid it’s a biblical idea which has very impotent application in our world today. Oh, I’m sure, if I were to ask the average Christian, “Do you believe God is in control and owns everything?” Most, if not a strong majority, would say, “Absolutely!” So, f I asked you, “What would you say?”
Is God the owner and in control of ALL THINGS in your life? And if we answered “YES” to that question, what is the evidence of our being effective stewards of God’s providence? And to that question, I would have to say that many of us would find it hard to come up with evidence of application in our lives.
We have a two year-old grandson right now; and when he’s playing with a toy, if you take it away from him, he will scream, … LOUDLY … ”MINE!!,” demanding that we give it back to him. It’s just in his nature that anything given to him is HIS and no one else’s. And that’s in our spiritual DNA as well, isn’t it?
If someone were to steal something from me, I would likely FEEL bad, …feeling that I LOST what was MINE. And I would FEEL that way because I FELT that I was the owner of that thing – whatever it was. I would not be FEELING badly because that thing, which was lost to me, was God’s and it had been misappropriated from my Lord. No, I would FEEL bad because I would likely FEEL that the thing which was stolen was MINE. So, at age 60+, my FEELINGS are really not that much different from our 2 year old grandson, are they? And I’m afraid that’s the situation with most Christians these days.
Stewardship – i.e., KNOWING that God owns it all and we are HIS managers – is not a concept that is in broad application in our world these days by Christians. In real life, we FEEL that we’re the owners of that house which has MY name on the deed, … not God’s. If someone steals something from me, I FEEL that the thief has stolen from ME, … not God. I don’t manage the resources which come into my life like they’re God’s. No, I FEEL the stuff in my life is MINE!
It is said that we could do a stewardship analysis in anyone’s life by taking a look at one’s calendar and their check-book records or online banking statement. If I were to audit your calendar, how much time would I find allotted to God’s priorities? If that audit included a look at your spending practices, how much would I find set aside to carry out God’s work or purposes and how much of your expenditures would I find for your own selfish desires? Am I meddling here?
So, as you read through Chapters 24-25 of Leviticus along with me today, are you doing a self-inventory of your stewardship of God’s providence? If you are, how’re you doing?
My Prayer Today: … Lord, I do so want to be a good steward of Your providence. Help me to let all that is MINE … be YOURS. Amen
Showing posts with label God's control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's control. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
January 26, 2012 … God Is In Control
Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Genesis, Chapters 41-42 … To study these chapters, go to this link -
Genesis 41: 14-16: … [God’s Providence and Design] ... 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
My Journal for Today: Have you ever had a set of circumstances in your life which you can look back on and see clearly that God was in total control in your life and all the happenings were being outlandishly engineered by God for you to live out HIS purposes for YOUR life? Well, I have; and the circumstances of Joseph’s life, as illustrated by the reading today in Chapters 41-42 of Genesis, is illustrative of the principle that GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL of what is going on in our lives. And isn’t it wonderful and mysterious that the LORD uses our free will and human choices to weave His tapestry of eternal design!
Today, I was led to read of Joseph, after being two years in prison unjustly, … then being brought – by a wild set of human interactions – before Pharaoh because of a perplexing dream with the king had, a dream which none of his court magicians could adequately interpret. Gee, I wonder Who planted that dream in the Pharaoh’s mind? And gee, I wonder how the court cup-bearer just happened to remember an event when his was unjustly in prison earlier where this young Hebrew had interpreted a dream of the prison guard which just happened to unfold exactly as this boy (who was Joseph, of course) had interpreted? … … DUH! … Enter Joseph into the life of Pharaoh – just by coincidence of course [… NOT!!!]. And if you’ve read ahead in Genesis we see how these circumstances, which so “mysteriously” transpired, allowed Joseph to become Pharaoh’s governor and second in command; and they also – so wonderfully - allowed Joseph to be in control in Egypt when his long-lost father, Jacob (“Israel”), sent Joseph’s ten brothers to Egypt to obtain grain during a providential famine in the land at that time. And just who – coincidently - did the ten brothers, who just happened to have sold their brother, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt years before, encounter? Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “You know the rest of the story!”
I think back on the wild, wacky, and wonderful set of circumstances, which, on April 13th, 1983, led me to recognize my spiritual brokenness and allowed me to be able to see that only by surrendering to Christ’s control in my life would I be able to find the spiritual strength which I had so unsuccessfully been trying to find in those days in other religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, or New-Ageism. I’ll not go into all those details of my testimony; but save it to say, on that fateful date in my life, I saw that only an omnipotent God could have engineered the circumstance in which I found myself and only God could be THE One to set me on a course which could reset my course in life in a direction of spiritual strength and not the weakness which I was experiencing. ONLY GOD!!!
But in today’s focus passage, when Joseph was brought by the Pharaoh to the court to interpret the king’s dream, Joseph knew exactly WHO was in control. And in Verse 16 of Genesis 41 above we read of Joseph witnessing to Pharaoh that ONLY GOD could interpret the dreams for the king. And this showed, later when the dreams were correctly interpreted, that Joseph, by surrendering to the one, true God, had power that could only come from a powerful God, … Whom we know of as THE ONE AND ONLY GOD!!! And our God, of course, is THE GOD … Who is control of all things and all circumstances in the lives of believers on His Name; and as it says in Romans 8: 28, all of those circumstances in life – as they did for Joseph – work together for the good of ALL those who believe in the Lord and are THE CALLED according to His purposes.
That was true for Joseph. It is true for Bill Berry; and if you believe in the same God Joseph and I follow, it is true for you too! Oh, how I hope we all believe and recognize that God’s control in our lives … as did the young boy, Joseph.
My Prayer Today: … My LORD, God, … I truly know and believe that You have worked it all out in my life … by Your design … and for Your purposes. And to that all I can in praise is HALLELUJAH!!! Amen
Genesis 41: 14-16: … [God’s Providence and Design] ... 14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. 15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
My Journal for Today: Have you ever had a set of circumstances in your life which you can look back on and see clearly that God was in total control in your life and all the happenings were being outlandishly engineered by God for you to live out HIS purposes for YOUR life? Well, I have; and the circumstances of Joseph’s life, as illustrated by the reading today in Chapters 41-42 of Genesis, is illustrative of the principle that GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL of what is going on in our lives. And isn’t it wonderful and mysterious that the LORD uses our free will and human choices to weave His tapestry of eternal design!
Today, I was led to read of Joseph, after being two years in prison unjustly, … then being brought – by a wild set of human interactions – before Pharaoh because of a perplexing dream with the king had, a dream which none of his court magicians could adequately interpret. Gee, I wonder Who planted that dream in the Pharaoh’s mind? And gee, I wonder how the court cup-bearer just happened to remember an event when his was unjustly in prison earlier where this young Hebrew had interpreted a dream of the prison guard which just happened to unfold exactly as this boy (who was Joseph, of course) had interpreted? … … DUH! … Enter Joseph into the life of Pharaoh – just by coincidence of course [… NOT!!!]. And if you’ve read ahead in Genesis we see how these circumstances, which so “mysteriously” transpired, allowed Joseph to become Pharaoh’s governor and second in command; and they also – so wonderfully - allowed Joseph to be in control in Egypt when his long-lost father, Jacob (“Israel”), sent Joseph’s ten brothers to Egypt to obtain grain during a providential famine in the land at that time. And just who – coincidently - did the ten brothers, who just happened to have sold their brother, Joseph, into slavery in Egypt years before, encounter? Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, “You know the rest of the story!”
I think back on the wild, wacky, and wonderful set of circumstances, which, on April 13th, 1983, led me to recognize my spiritual brokenness and allowed me to be able to see that only by surrendering to Christ’s control in my life would I be able to find the spiritual strength which I had so unsuccessfully been trying to find in those days in other religions such as Buddhism, Taoism, or New-Ageism. I’ll not go into all those details of my testimony; but save it to say, on that fateful date in my life, I saw that only an omnipotent God could have engineered the circumstance in which I found myself and only God could be THE One to set me on a course which could reset my course in life in a direction of spiritual strength and not the weakness which I was experiencing. ONLY GOD!!!
But in today’s focus passage, when Joseph was brought by the Pharaoh to the court to interpret the king’s dream, Joseph knew exactly WHO was in control. And in Verse 16 of Genesis 41 above we read of Joseph witnessing to Pharaoh that ONLY GOD could interpret the dreams for the king. And this showed, later when the dreams were correctly interpreted, that Joseph, by surrendering to the one, true God, had power that could only come from a powerful God, … Whom we know of as THE ONE AND ONLY GOD!!! And our God, of course, is THE GOD … Who is control of all things and all circumstances in the lives of believers on His Name; and as it says in Romans 8: 28, all of those circumstances in life – as they did for Joseph – work together for the good of ALL those who believe in the Lord and are THE CALLED according to His purposes.
That was true for Joseph. It is true for Bill Berry; and if you believe in the same God Joseph and I follow, it is true for you too! Oh, how I hope we all believe and recognize that God’s control in our lives … as did the young boy, Joseph.
My Prayer Today: … My LORD, God, … I truly know and believe that You have worked it all out in my life … by Your design … and for Your purposes. And to that all I can in praise is HALLELUJAH!!! Amen
Sunday, May 10, 2009
– Day 129.May 10 – God Takes Charge
2009 – Day 129.May 10 – God Takes Charge
Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 31: 1 – 13 … Linked to 1st Samuel 31 for your study …
My Journal for Today: I don’t think I would have seen the parallels between Saul’s death and the death of Christ had I not gotten the interpretive help and teaching in today’s devotional from Chuck Swindoll. However, he does point out that in both scenarios, God changed everything for Israel and mankind as Saul’s death became a picture of what would take place when God demonstrated His control of history and mankind’s eternal future by the death of a ruler. Here are some points to which Swindoll points out to illustrate this.
>>> First, in both instances, in the death of Saul and centuries later, Christ, the end of all national hope for Israel seemed to have occurred. But in both deaths, a whole new hope for mankind was given light.
>>> Secondly, when both Saul and Jesus died, the adversary of Israel or mankind appeared to have one a final victory. However, as history marched forward from both deaths, the line of David would prove that the victory was in the hands of God’s chosen people.
>>> Thirdly, in both instances God ushered in a whole new plan of salvation, which came through the line of Jesse and David to bring salvation to God’s people. And so, Saul’s death brought David’s line into the line of succession, which would not have occurred without Saul dying in the way he did. With Christ, the line of salvation was opened to the Gentile as well as the Jew. So, in both deaths God opened up salvation to a whole new people.
>>> And fourthly and finally, Saul’s death showed God’s people how futile and foolish a kingship based on human worship could be; and with David becoming king, the hope of Messiah became the way man viewed their eternal future. With Christ’s death, the era of law and guilt died and mankind found that his way to salvation based on his own sacrifice had ended, being replace with the hope that comes only through God’s grace.
With both of these deaths in history, Swindoll thinks God was and is saying to mankind. “When are you going to turn your lives over to MY control?” In Saul’s death this message was prophetic. But with Christ’s death on the cross, the message to man was the fulfillment and final answer to the prophesy. Saul’s death pointed mankind to the line of David, showing where the King of kings would come. In Christ’s death, we see clearly, if we’re willing to receive our Lord as the King of kings, that mankind has only one hope for salvation; and that has come through the life, death, and resurrection of David’s line, culminating in Jesus Christ, Who was and is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, Your story, which both ended and began on the cross, tells it all; … You are the only hope for our salvation. Amen
Passage of the Day: 1st Samuel 31: 1 – 13 … Linked to 1st Samuel 31 for your study …
My Journal for Today: I don’t think I would have seen the parallels between Saul’s death and the death of Christ had I not gotten the interpretive help and teaching in today’s devotional from Chuck Swindoll. However, he does point out that in both scenarios, God changed everything for Israel and mankind as Saul’s death became a picture of what would take place when God demonstrated His control of history and mankind’s eternal future by the death of a ruler. Here are some points to which Swindoll points out to illustrate this.
>>> First, in both instances, in the death of Saul and centuries later, Christ, the end of all national hope for Israel seemed to have occurred. But in both deaths, a whole new hope for mankind was given light.
>>> Secondly, when both Saul and Jesus died, the adversary of Israel or mankind appeared to have one a final victory. However, as history marched forward from both deaths, the line of David would prove that the victory was in the hands of God’s chosen people.
>>> Thirdly, in both instances God ushered in a whole new plan of salvation, which came through the line of Jesse and David to bring salvation to God’s people. And so, Saul’s death brought David’s line into the line of succession, which would not have occurred without Saul dying in the way he did. With Christ, the line of salvation was opened to the Gentile as well as the Jew. So, in both deaths God opened up salvation to a whole new people.
>>> And fourthly and finally, Saul’s death showed God’s people how futile and foolish a kingship based on human worship could be; and with David becoming king, the hope of Messiah became the way man viewed their eternal future. With Christ’s death, the era of law and guilt died and mankind found that his way to salvation based on his own sacrifice had ended, being replace with the hope that comes only through God’s grace.
With both of these deaths in history, Swindoll thinks God was and is saying to mankind. “When are you going to turn your lives over to MY control?” In Saul’s death this message was prophetic. But with Christ’s death on the cross, the message to man was the fulfillment and final answer to the prophesy. Saul’s death pointed mankind to the line of David, showing where the King of kings would come. In Christ’s death, we see clearly, if we’re willing to receive our Lord as the King of kings, that mankind has only one hope for salvation; and that has come through the life, death, and resurrection of David’s line, culminating in Jesus Christ, Who was and is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, Your story, which both ended and began on the cross, tells it all; … You are the only hope for our salvation. Amen
Monday, April 06, 2009
2009 – Day 95.Apr. 6 – God of Every Detail
2009 – Day 95.Apr. 6 – God of Every Detail
Passage of the Day: Numbers 27: 12 – 23 … Link to study passage …
Also Deuteronomy 34: 9 … Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Chuck Swindoll today, always standing in amazement as to how God’s word, written in 66 books, by 44 authors, in three languages, over 3000 years of history, focusing on one unique Subject, Jesus Christ, can be so personal to me or to anyone who uses it as God intended it (see Isaiah 55: 11 -link provided). He has brought the compendium of personal wisdom for the ages into my (or your) life to be a light unto my (or your) path (see Psalm119: 105 -linked) in His perfect timing and for His perfect will. Do you not, with Swindoll and me, stand in awe of this?
As Pastor Chuck posited in his devotional today, perhaps, reading today’s passages, you are a Joshua, who has significant challenges lying ahead of you in life, not knowing how things are going to turn out. Perhaps you’ve been upgraded or downgraded; and you don’t know what life is going to hold for you. Perhaps God has lain a task in front of you which seems ultra-daunting; and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it. But like and older, more mature Apostle Peter wrote, God cares (see in the NT, 1st Peter 5: 7); and as old Joshua was encouraged to realize, God will never leave you holding the bag alone when His will has been lain before you (see Joshua 1: 1 – 9). You may be overwhelmed; but God is not; and there’s no reason for you to fret over life’s circumstances (as the Apostle Paul had discovered in his life, being imprisoned while carrying out God’s will - see Phil. 4: 6 – 7).
And I’m throwing all these specific passages of Scripture to you, as they bubble up in my consciousness, writing this, because God is giving me His word to share with you to illustrate my very point, … that His word will never come up void or powerless in shining a light on your specific path (again go to links above and see Isaiah 55: 11 and Psalm 119: 105).
Are you getting the picture; … that our God is the God of ever detail, just like He was for Joshua when God’s gargantuan task of taking over for Moses was put into his hands? And God has a plan for you and me too. All we need to do is find His will for our lives and then to lay aside personal fears and selfish pride, and to take up this cross, and to follow our Savior into His promised land (see Jesus’ own direction in this regard in Luke 9: 23, which I surely hope you have memorized by now as often as I reference it).
God’s in the details, my beloved; and even more importantly, HE’S IN TOTAL CONTROL! If, like Joshua, you have a whopper of a task in front of you; and you know it’s God will for your life, … take heed and be encouraged by the passages to which I’ve referred you in this journal entry. My mentor used to say, often, “God’s calling is His enablement!” And that applies to each and every one of us in each and every moment of each and ever day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I take up the encouragement of Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 119: 105, abiding in Your word to be a light unto my path. Amen
Passage of the Day: Numbers 27: 12 – 23 … Link to study passage …
Also Deuteronomy 34: 9 … Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
My Journal for Today: I totally agree with Chuck Swindoll today, always standing in amazement as to how God’s word, written in 66 books, by 44 authors, in three languages, over 3000 years of history, focusing on one unique Subject, Jesus Christ, can be so personal to me or to anyone who uses it as God intended it (see Isaiah 55: 11 -link provided). He has brought the compendium of personal wisdom for the ages into my (or your) life to be a light unto my (or your) path (see Psalm119: 105 -linked) in His perfect timing and for His perfect will. Do you not, with Swindoll and me, stand in awe of this?
As Pastor Chuck posited in his devotional today, perhaps, reading today’s passages, you are a Joshua, who has significant challenges lying ahead of you in life, not knowing how things are going to turn out. Perhaps you’ve been upgraded or downgraded; and you don’t know what life is going to hold for you. Perhaps God has lain a task in front of you which seems ultra-daunting; and you don’t know how you’re going to handle it. But like and older, more mature Apostle Peter wrote, God cares (see in the NT, 1st Peter 5: 7); and as old Joshua was encouraged to realize, God will never leave you holding the bag alone when His will has been lain before you (see Joshua 1: 1 – 9). You may be overwhelmed; but God is not; and there’s no reason for you to fret over life’s circumstances (as the Apostle Paul had discovered in his life, being imprisoned while carrying out God’s will - see Phil. 4: 6 – 7).
And I’m throwing all these specific passages of Scripture to you, as they bubble up in my consciousness, writing this, because God is giving me His word to share with you to illustrate my very point, … that His word will never come up void or powerless in shining a light on your specific path (again go to links above and see Isaiah 55: 11 and Psalm 119: 105).
Are you getting the picture; … that our God is the God of ever detail, just like He was for Joshua when God’s gargantuan task of taking over for Moses was put into his hands? And God has a plan for you and me too. All we need to do is find His will for our lives and then to lay aside personal fears and selfish pride, and to take up this cross, and to follow our Savior into His promised land (see Jesus’ own direction in this regard in Luke 9: 23, which I surely hope you have memorized by now as often as I reference it).
God’s in the details, my beloved; and even more importantly, HE’S IN TOTAL CONTROL! If, like Joshua, you have a whopper of a task in front of you; and you know it’s God will for your life, … take heed and be encouraged by the passages to which I’ve referred you in this journal entry. My mentor used to say, often, “God’s calling is His enablement!” And that applies to each and every one of us in each and every moment of each and ever day of our lives.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, I take up the encouragement of Joshua 1: 8 and Psalm 119: 105, abiding in Your word to be a light unto my path. Amen
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