Tag Archives: God’s Will

Posted on

The Encounter

by

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.”  Hebrews 11:1-2

Over the course of my life, I’ve encountered a wide variety of individuals.  Most of these events are buried in the recesses of my mind as they had little noticeable impact.  The encounters that I do remember are the ones that were: repetitive, damaging, unexpected, uplifting, or loving as they left a significant mark on my life.  At the top of the list of memorable encounters are my encounters with God.  Encounters with the Lord come in a wide variety and are perfectly tailored to the people involved as well as the need.  They may be direct encounters as Noah, Abraham or Moses experienced; through His messengers as was the case with Mary and Joseph; through a grand event as Paul’s conversion or the more subtle work of the Holy Spirit.  No matter what form our encounter takes, we can be certain of one thing: we will never be the same afterward for we will either trust the character of God and draw closer to Him or we will reject Him in disbelief and pull away.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Cup Half Empty or Half Full?

What do you believe?

by

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”     Psalm 23:4-5

The past couple of weeks I spent some time with my mother-in-law helping take care of some things around her home.  On the long drive there and back I listened to two sermons from Ligonier Ministries…in fact, I listened to them twice.  The second, “All Scripture is Profitable” (https://www.ligonier.org/blog/believing-god-new-teaching-series-rc-sproul-jr/) was by R. C. Sproul, Jr. which brought up the concept of whether our cup is half full or half empty.  As this is a subject close to my heart, I spent a fair amount of time on the trip considering this topic.  Like the phrase “cup half empty or half full”, the word cup in scripture has a figurative meaning that refers to one’s lot in life whether sorrowful (half empty) or joyous (half full).  Like many, if I ponder my life without God, I would have to conclude that it is half empty for I have accumulated 60 plus years of losses, trials and ordeals.  However, when I consider my life’s experiences in light of God’s involvement, I see a different outcome.  What was half empty becomes half full by God’s grace.  Let me walk through a few “for instances”.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Hope Defined

by

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  (Hebrews 10:23)

Hope is an integral part of our faith, but what is it really?    The world tells us that hope is a feeling or a desire.   That connotation hardly works in this passage.  How can one hold fast to a feeling or a desire?  Just because we have a feeling something will happen or we desire it does not make it a certainty.  The word that Paul uses in this passage is really defined as “favorable and confident expectation”.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Looking Upward

Is God Enough For You?

by

And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

I was recently included in an invitation to participate in an activity.  For various reasons I declined; any one of them had sufficient merit to opt out, but together, the choice was self-directing.  A few days after the initial invitation, a second was received.  It came on a rather busy day and not wanting to forget to respond, I sent a brief message indicating my choice.  Rather quickly, I received a reply questioning my decision which was followed by a volley of emails that indicated offense for both my choice and my means of communicating it.  The end result was yet another hurt and a broken relationship that increased my desire to withdraw from most people and especially pull away from the Christian community.

One of the difficulties for those dealing with life’s trials and/or the ongoing challenges of chronic illness is the focus.  We all face various circumstances that disappoint and frustrate us giving rise to the need of confidantes to whom we share our thoughts and occasionally vent.  However, when our thoughts become self-absorbed, we lose our perspective and cause damage in our vital relationships.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Good vs Bad

by

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”  Genesis 50:20

When starting a new support group, I ask participants to define a few words.  Two of those words are good and bad.  A quick google search provided me with the following:  good – “to be desired or approved of”; bad – “of poor quality; inferior or defective” and “not such as to be hoped for or desired; unpleasant or unwelcome”.  The synonyms are more direct with words like healthy, fine, sound, fit, robust, sturdy, strong, and vigorous versus substandard, poor, inferior, unsatisfactory, inadequate, unacceptable, imperfect, defective, faulty, and miserable.  These are consistent with most participants’ responses.  Admittedly, for a significant portion of my life, I would have agreed with these definitions.   However, God has brought me to the place where I understand that, in our haste to categorize, we are often missing two key components: complete information and perspective.  Specifically we often lack all of the finer details and regularly forget the eternal perspective which can significantly change our overall view of any given condition, situation or trial.  In that light, my health may be substandard, poor and inferior, but I would not classify my situation bad.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Best Laid Plans

by

“The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

You may have noticed that I usually post scripture during the week that coincides with the theme of the post.  That is not the case this week as this isn’t the post that I planned to publish. My body is just too exhausted and my brain is just too foggy to pull that one together.  Ironically it is about strength and I currently have none.  Consequently, this will be more brief than usual and may be a bit of a repeat from this summer’s posts, but it is what God has put on my heart today in various ways.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Acceptance – Part Three

Not My Will, But Thy Will Be Done

by

“He knelt down and began to pray, saying, ‘Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.’ Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.  And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”  (Luke 22:41-44)

Imagine Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He has trained the disciples.  He has concluded His ministry.  I was time to return to the Father, but there was one last task…His death and resurrection.  In preparation, He is coming before His father in prayer.  However, it is a prayer like no other that He has offered…He is asking “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me”. 

Continue Reading »