Ultimately It's Up To God

And may the Lord do what seems good to him. 1 Chronicles 19:13 (ESV)

David was King. The King from the Ammonites died so David sent a delegation to express his sympathies to the King’s son. His son, not trusting David, humiliated the delegation and sent them home. Afterward, he realized he made a mistake. I love how the ESV says it “When the Ammonites saw they had become a stench to David.” When the Ammonites realized they were stinky, they hired an army to fight for them. In response, David sent his might men and his army to fight.

Now David’s mighty men and his army had a great reputation. People from all around knew who they were. These were not ordinary men. As you read through the Bible, some extraordinary feats are listed. They were powerful.

David put Joab in charge. Joab realizes the odds are not in their favor and he puts together a plan. He tells everyone what to do, and then I love his next line.

And may the Lord do what seems good to him.

Some days, it feels like we are fighting a battle. It feels like the odds are against us. No matter how well we plan, the odds do not seem to be in our favor. We need to remember, just like Joab, that in the end it is up to God.

God is the tipping point. He is the One greater than everything we see. It’s His plans that get executed, not ours. Will He fight for us? Most definitely! But there will still be things that don’t work out the way we want them to…..and that’s OK. Because we know in the end that God is the One in control. And if He allows it, there is a purpose.

Like Joab, we need to plan. We need to do everything we can to succeed but after all that is said and done, we need to trust God in whatever the outcome.

Whispers From Heaven

I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. Psalm 16:7-8 (NLT)

Lately, I’ve been waking up with songs in my head. This has happened before but rarely. In the last few weeks, it’s been happening a lot. Let me explain.

I’ve been walking through some tough decisions the last couple of weeks. I go to bed, I pray about it and when I wake up in the morning there is a song going through my head. Sometimes, I know the song, who wrote it and I have it downloaded in my iTunes. Sometimes, I only get a few lines of it.

I get up and go research the song. One day, I didn’t know the song and I couldn’t figure out who wrote it. I kept googling the lines that were repeating in my head and I couldn’t find it. I started praying about it (because the lines kept repeating) and kept googling. I finally found it. And the message of the song was that even when things are overwhelming He will never let me go.

Another day, I knew the song. I had it on my iTunes but I’ve learned to go check it out anyway. Instead of playing it on my iPad, I went to find the YouTube video. And there, in the beginning of it was a testimony by the artist that I’d never heard. The testimony talked about not focusing on all the things that are happening but instead focusing on Jesus and letting him change you. It was just what I needed to hear.

God doesn’t speak to me every day like this. Some days he talks through his Word or through books I’m reading or friends.

I also realize that God doesn’t talk to all of us with songs first thing in the morning. He speaks to each of us differently. I have a friend who sees pictures when she’s praying. I know of other friends who God speaks to with his words from the Bible. He communicates with us as uniquely as he created each one of us.

That’s the incredible thing about God. He is not limited by well, anything. He can talk to us any way he wants and he does.

So the next time you hear a song as you wake up in the morning, or you see something that makes you go hmmmmm…..go check it out. It might be the God of the universe whispering your name.

A Minute In It - It's Not All Mine!

A minute in God’s Word will change your life. Take a moment to read the text below and then follow the instructions at the bottom of the post.

The earth and everything on it
belong to the Lord.
The world and its people
belong to him. Psalm 24:1 (CEV)

Take a moment and list the gifts God has given to you. List the big things (like maybe a car) and the small things. Don’t forget to put non-material things like time and people.

We are so focused on what we see as “ours.” Based on today’s text, it is all God’s. Knowing that everything on your list is not yours but God’s, how does that change what you do with it?

Spend some time in prayer and ask God to show you how to use what is His.

Can't Hide This

“Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him. John 4:29-30 (NLT)

There are days after I spend some time with God that I want to stay put. I am filled with awe and peace and going out to face the day (the world) is not appealing to me. It feels like a lot of work and stress. So I want to linger; for hours or even all day just being content in my space.

But God does not call us to that life. The life where we get to hide and be safe. We are called to a life of sharing; sharing who he is and what he’s done in us.

The woman at the well in John 4 may have been tempted to keep what Jesus revealed to her to herself. She, after all, was not accepted in polite society. She was a loner. She came to well alone, after everyone else had gone. She was living with someone and not married. By all accounts at that time, she was criticized and ostracized.

After Jesus spoke into her heart though, she ran back to the village. The Bible says she left her water jugs and took off toward the town. I can imagine it now. Running into the village out of breath she shouted “Come! Come and see! There is this man, he saw into my heart. He spoke words unlike anything I’ve heard.” She faced what she normally hid from (people) and she gave God glory.

Because of her testimony, the people came. They experienced Jesus for themselves and they were also changed. This is how the gospel is supposed to work.

So, the next time you are tempted to hide in your space and not go out and face the world, remember. Remember the way Jesus speaks into your heart. Remember the way he has loved on and changed you. Then, go out and share that with others. Your testimony will help them meet Jesus.

What Is Good?

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 107:1 (NLT)

A common saying among Christians is “God is good!”. I started wondering what that means exactly. The word ‘good’ can be used a lot of different ways. Looking it up in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, I found a few examples. Here are a few.

• Of favorable character or tendency - check

• Virtuous, kind- check

• Loyal - check

• Close (as in a good friend) - check

• Praiseworthy - check

• Of the highest worth (as good as gold) - check

• Can be relied on - check

It seems when you think about it, we can define ‘good’ in a lot of different ways. It’s one of those words in the English language that has multiple uses and meanings. Maybe that’s why we use it to describe God. There is not one way to describe who he is. And to each of us, he is a God who is personal. When I say God is good, I may be saying he is true and present. When you say God is good, you might be saying he is worthy to be praised. All of them are correct.

Have you thought about what God’s goodness means to you? Why do you think he’s good? What is it you know about him that causes you to think this?

When you answer that, give thanks for it!

Subtle Warfare

He replied again, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.” 1 Kings 19:14 (NLT)

Elijah had just performed an awesome miracle for God. The kind that should reinforce who God is and that he is definitely in charge. After he did, he began to hear the whispers. You know what I mean. The voices that tell you things about yourself and about God that are not true.

Even though they are not true. They are real and after hearing them for a while, the best of us believe them.

The voices that remind you of your past failures and insist that you have not grown past them. The talking about how you are not good enough to _____________________ (fill in the blank.) Each of our whispers are different.

For some, it’s about a past mistake. For others it’s about our physical appearance or our personality. The whispers can talk about our intelligence, our emotions, and our inabilities. These voices get particularly persistent as we grow deeper in our relationship with God.

I know this from experience. We’ve been doing a 40-day fast and the whispers have been non-stop. Relentless is the word that comes to mind. The thing that really distresses me is that normally, I can differentiate between God’s voice and the other guy. This time, it was very subtle and I struggled.

Elijah did too. He was a mighty God warrior and he began to believe what he was hearing. He was convinced that he was the only person left who followed God.

What should we do when the attack is real and the thoughts are negative? Go straight to the source of truth. God. Open your Bible and read. Read the promises. Write them down. Carry them with you all day long. When you hear the voices, repeat them out loud; over and over again. It is only by hearing the truth in our souls can we walk through this victoriously.

Elijah told God what he believed and God told him the truth. He said “Elijah, there are 7,000 others who have been faithful.” God will tell you the truth too. And when you hear it, believe it. Lean in to the One who loves you. He will never leave you or forsake you. That’s a promise!

God Only Knows

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NLT)

There is a song by King and Country called God Only Knows. The words are

God only knows what you've been through
God only knows what they say about you
God only knows how it's killing you
But there's a kind of love that God only knows

These words keep going round and round in my head. God only knows…..

Lately, I’ve been talking to some folks about hurts they’ve had in their past. Seems like everyone has some - some hurts are way more painful than others but we all seem to carry some pain. I am always saddened by how much we as a human race hurt each other.

God only knows….

And the other thing only God knows is the sadness and pain that comes from loving the human race. The kind of love he offered in Jesus was a love that God only knows. The kind of sacrifice for our well-being was of a caliber that only God would know.

God only knows…..

Another thing God knows is you. He knows you so completely and intimately. He knows that you are worth every bit of it. You were worth every step toward the cross and every moment on it. You were worth it all. That is the kind of love that God only knows.

Plans As Different As You Are

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

We were sitting around in a circle sharing stories. This is a group that gets together every other week to talk about our journeys with God; sharing and encouraging each other. As each person took a turn to share their story, one woman shared an amazing answer to prayer. She had been struggling with a situation for a while and God finally answered. He finally showed up in a very powerful way.

I was really happy for her. She is my friend. But, there was a part of me that wondered why not me? Now, believe me, I know this is completely selfish. And I know that this is not an appropriate thought to have when your friend was blessed by an answer to prayer. I know I should stay quiet about the fact that I thought this....but, I think more of us think this kind of thing than we’d like to admit. So, shaking my head, I am admitting it.

That night as I laid in bed, I talked to God about it. First, I asked him to forgive me for thinking so selfishly but then I honestly asked him “Why? Why has it taken so long for you to answer my prayers?” Then, I felt inspired to tell him what prayers I would have him answer if I could choose anything at all. And to my surprise, as I lay there and thought about it, I didn’t ask for the things I thought I would. The things I had been focusing on that I thought I wanted answers to, those were not top of my list. I was whining about him not answering this one prayer but when asked to prioritize, that did not fall in the top five.

I went to sleep.

The next day as I talked some more with God about all this, I remembered. I remembered some amazing answered prayers that I’ve had in my recent past. There was an answer to prayer for a reconciliation that I was praying about for 15 years. There was the prayer that asked God to send someone so I could share Jesus. There was the reunion with my biological brothers. There are so many more and each one has been amazing. 

Then I remembered what God says in his Word. “For I know the plans I have for you.....” Your plans are not everyone else’s plans and their plans are not for you. My plans for you are uniquely individual and the answers to prayer are the same.

All I could do was bow my head and rejoice in a God who loves me so individually and in a way that is uniquely me. He knew what my heart wanted even when I didn’t.