Sunday, January 14, 2018 9:03:53 AM
From the Pastor's Heart - January 2018
"If we want to live in a manner that pleases the Lord and brings His blessings, we must learn how to follow God’s path instead of forging ahead on our own."
Did you make any resolutions this year? Some people are very enthusiastic about committing to a fresh start each year. Others are too busy to think about changes. But for many, the thought of another year of failing to follow through with resolutions keeps them from trying to make any.
No matter which camp you find yourself in today, there’s one lesson we should all try to learn in 2018. In the coming year, we’ll face many challenges and decisions, and sometimes we won’t know exactly what to do. But there are only two possible directions — we either go our way or God’s way. If we want to live in a manner that pleases the Lord and brings His blessings, we must learn how to follow God’s path instead of forging ahead on our own.
To gain a proper perspective, let’s begin by considering who would be a better guide. God is omniscient and eternal. He is above and beyond time and knows absolutely everything about every situation and person. The Lord is also omnipotent and sovereign. As Creator, He not only has the right to rule over every aspect of heaven and earth, but He has unlimited power to accomplish whatever He desires.
Now think about your abilities as a guide for your life. How does your knowledge compare with God’s? How far ahead in time can you see with perfect accuracy? What kind of control do you wield over the events in the world, your job, your family, your church, or even your own life?
Which guide to choose should be obvious, and in theory, following God is the desire of every Christian. Yet our natural impulses and reasoning are sometimes so strong that we forget about God and plow ahead without giving Him a second thought.
To help us learn the value of doing things God’s way, let’s look at two different episodes in the life of Moses. He was born during the time of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt (Exodus 2). Although he was a Hebrew, he was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh as her son. He had all the education, wealth, and prominence of the royal household, but he knew he was a Hebrew. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Hebrew and responded by secretly killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand.
In this first example, Moses tried to remedy the situation his way. As we examine how he responded, we’ll discover how we can avoid repeating this same mistake.
Moses’ trouble began when he focused on the immediate event rather than the big picture and acted impulsively in anger, relying on his own reasoning and strength. He tried to fix a situation for one man, but his method was not effective for all God’s people. Killing one Egyptian at a time would never set his people free.
Another mistake was failing to consider the future consequences before he acted. Pharaoh heard what Moses had done and tried to kill him. As a result of doing things his way in an attempt to help his people, Moses lost his position of prominence, and the Israelites continued in slavery while Moses was forced to flee to the wilderness where he lived in obscurity for 40 years as a shepherd.
But God was not finished with Moses and gave him a second opportunity to do things His way (Exodus 3-12). He appeared to Moses in a burning bush and commissioned him to go to Pharaoh and bring God’s people out of Egypt. Despite Moses’ feelings of fear and inadequacy, he obeyed.
This time Moses acted on a divine command instead of impulse. He proceeded on God’s timetable, relying on His provision to accomplish His will. And as a result, he witnessed an amazing display of the Lord’s power as He sent plagues into the land of Egypt and parted the Red Sea to let the Israelites escape their captors (Exodus 14).
Now consider what God could do in your life if you follow His path. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord and not on our own understanding. In His Word He’s provided commandments, principles, and examples of how to live in His way. We also have direct access to God through prayer and the Holy Spirit within us to guide and empower us to obey.
If we’ll rely on these resources that God has provided, He will direct our steps, give us the patience to wait for His timing, and provide whatever is needed to accomplish His purposes. Like Moses, we’ll learn to know and love the Lord more as we walk obediently with Him. We’ll be amazed at how he can use our weaknesses and failures, working through us to bring about His will.
Although our New Year’s resolutions may quickly crumble, God’s plans never fail. If we’ll make it our goal this year to learn to walk in His way rather than our own, we may be surprised what He will do. Instead of fretting over a decision, we’ll learn to trust, rest, and wait on Him. Our fears of inadequacy and failure will diminish as we experience His power working in and through us. Now is the time to surrender to God’s way. Just take one step of obedience followed by another.
Prayerfully yours,
Charles F. Stanley
P.S. In Touch Ministries is looking forward to another year of opportunities to encourage believers in their walk with Christ and to offer the gospel of salvation to those who don’t know Him. Thank you so much for joining us on this exciting journey.
https://www.intouch.org/read/from-pastors-heart/january-2018
"If we want to live in a manner that pleases the Lord and brings His blessings, we must learn how to follow God’s path instead of forging ahead on our own."
Did you make any resolutions this year? Some people are very enthusiastic about committing to a fresh start each year. Others are too busy to think about changes. But for many, the thought of another year of failing to follow through with resolutions keeps them from trying to make any.
No matter which camp you find yourself in today, there’s one lesson we should all try to learn in 2018. In the coming year, we’ll face many challenges and decisions, and sometimes we won’t know exactly what to do. But there are only two possible directions — we either go our way or God’s way. If we want to live in a manner that pleases the Lord and brings His blessings, we must learn how to follow God’s path instead of forging ahead on our own.
To gain a proper perspective, let’s begin by considering who would be a better guide. God is omniscient and eternal. He is above and beyond time and knows absolutely everything about every situation and person. The Lord is also omnipotent and sovereign. As Creator, He not only has the right to rule over every aspect of heaven and earth, but He has unlimited power to accomplish whatever He desires.
Now think about your abilities as a guide for your life. How does your knowledge compare with God’s? How far ahead in time can you see with perfect accuracy? What kind of control do you wield over the events in the world, your job, your family, your church, or even your own life?
Which guide to choose should be obvious, and in theory, following God is the desire of every Christian. Yet our natural impulses and reasoning are sometimes so strong that we forget about God and plow ahead without giving Him a second thought.
To help us learn the value of doing things God’s way, let’s look at two different episodes in the life of Moses. He was born during the time of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt (Exodus 2). Although he was a Hebrew, he was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh as her son. He had all the education, wealth, and prominence of the royal household, but he knew he was a Hebrew. One day he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Hebrew and responded by secretly killing the Egyptian and burying him in the sand.
In this first example, Moses tried to remedy the situation his way. As we examine how he responded, we’ll discover how we can avoid repeating this same mistake.
Moses’ trouble began when he focused on the immediate event rather than the big picture and acted impulsively in anger, relying on his own reasoning and strength. He tried to fix a situation for one man, but his method was not effective for all God’s people. Killing one Egyptian at a time would never set his people free.
Another mistake was failing to consider the future consequences before he acted. Pharaoh heard what Moses had done and tried to kill him. As a result of doing things his way in an attempt to help his people, Moses lost his position of prominence, and the Israelites continued in slavery while Moses was forced to flee to the wilderness where he lived in obscurity for 40 years as a shepherd.
But God was not finished with Moses and gave him a second opportunity to do things His way (Exodus 3-12). He appeared to Moses in a burning bush and commissioned him to go to Pharaoh and bring God’s people out of Egypt. Despite Moses’ feelings of fear and inadequacy, he obeyed.
This time Moses acted on a divine command instead of impulse. He proceeded on God’s timetable, relying on His provision to accomplish His will. And as a result, he witnessed an amazing display of the Lord’s power as He sent plagues into the land of Egypt and parted the Red Sea to let the Israelites escape their captors (Exodus 14).
Now consider what God could do in your life if you follow His path. Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord and not on our own understanding. In His Word He’s provided commandments, principles, and examples of how to live in His way. We also have direct access to God through prayer and the Holy Spirit within us to guide and empower us to obey.
If we’ll rely on these resources that God has provided, He will direct our steps, give us the patience to wait for His timing, and provide whatever is needed to accomplish His purposes. Like Moses, we’ll learn to know and love the Lord more as we walk obediently with Him. We’ll be amazed at how he can use our weaknesses and failures, working through us to bring about His will.
Although our New Year’s resolutions may quickly crumble, God’s plans never fail. If we’ll make it our goal this year to learn to walk in His way rather than our own, we may be surprised what He will do. Instead of fretting over a decision, we’ll learn to trust, rest, and wait on Him. Our fears of inadequacy and failure will diminish as we experience His power working in and through us. Now is the time to surrender to God’s way. Just take one step of obedience followed by another.
Prayerfully yours,
Charles F. Stanley
P.S. In Touch Ministries is looking forward to another year of opportunities to encourage believers in their walk with Christ and to offer the gospel of salvation to those who don’t know Him. Thank you so much for joining us on this exciting journey.
https://www.intouch.org/read/from-pastors-heart/january-2018
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