As I sit here this morning looking out at the dawn breaking, I contemplate what God is speaking to me today. The word that keeps coming through is "renewal". Now that had me a bit confused. I had already pasted in the Scripture I was going to use and it has nothing to do with renewal. Take a look.
Exodus 39:1-5(NKJV)
Of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread they made garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen.
And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, into artistic designs.
They made shoulder straps for it to couple it together; it was coupled together at its two edges.
And the intricately
woven band of his ephod that was on
it was of the same
workmanship, woven of gold, blue,
purple, and scarlet thread, and of
fine woven linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
As has often happened when writing my observations, when I started to write I
had an idea of the direction I wanted to go with it. But God stepped in and took me in another
direction. Check this out.
Renewal. I'm looking out the window at all of the trees with no leaves because the leaves are all on the ground. It is the opening day of deer season. It is the middle of fall. Hardly a time that we associate with renewal.
But I am here to
tell you that through God's power, renewal can begin any time you want it to,
as long as you rely on God's guidance and God's power! Let me give you an example.
I have long battled weight issues. About
100 days ago I decided to change that.
Or more precisely God brought me to the place where opportunity and
preparedness met. I was ready to make
changes in my life and lose weight, and I had found the tool that works for
me. In around 100 days I have lost 48
pounds. I am feeling downright slender
again which is how I have always identified internally. I grew up as one of the skinniest kids in my
class. I have seen great improvements in
my health as a result of my weight loss as well.
So let's call the weight loss the "reset". That has led me to look for other areas of my life where I might make improvements and that is leading to renewal.
Wow! I did not see this connection when I started to write this observation. This is an example of how God can lead us directly in our thoughts if we will just open up and let Him.
But how does renewal connect to what I was going to write about today? Check this out.
One of the areas of
renewal God has led me to consider is goal setting. I have always had general goals in my mind
and that has served me well though out life.
However I have always resisted the advice that our goals should be
written down and we should have a detailed plan on how to get there.
Why have I resisted that? Because I
wanted to always let God be my guide. I
figured if I sat down and had a detailed plan I was trying to play God and do
it on my own. I didn't want to do that.
So imagine my
surprise when this week God revealed to me the answer to a question that I have
been asking for decades. Why does
Scripture go into such excruciating detail regarding the building of the temple
and the priests garments, etc.?
God can be very skillful with a 2 x 4 upside the head. God said you've been wondering about why such
detail for years. Think it through. They had a plan, a very detailed plan. Were they "trying to play God and do it
on their own" when the plan itself came from God? Hmm?
(Even God can get a little impatient and condescending with His slow
students :)
Oh!!! I get it!!! If I depend on God to
help me develop the plan than "I'm not playing God and doing it
myself". It's God's plan! Duh!!!
And as long as I continue to lean on God as I implement His plan then He
will help me make course corrections along the way. Very Cool!
So the renewal in this case is a renewal in how I approach my goals in
life. Just having general goals has
worked pretty well for me up to this point in my life. Imagine how well having a detailed plan
developed with God's help is going to work!
BTW, would you like to have this kind of relationship with God? It's yours for the asking. All you have to do is invite Jesus to be the
Lord of you life. Invite Jesus to lead
you. Just have a conversation with
Him. "Dear Jesus….".
