God's attention to detail is incredible!!!

 

I just marvel at God's incredible attention to detail! 

 

One of the little games I have always played is trying to get the people who wait on me at drive throughs to smile.  I have gotten some of the most sullen workers to smile by just being polite and sincere and giving them a big smile.  It is fun.  Try it sometime.  I am not quite sure how I got started doing this.  It just sort of developed. 

I have also been driving Lyft for the last 5 years.  Day after day, strangers getting in and out of my car.  Having short 5-15 minute conversations with people.  Learning to make these almost instant connections.  It was amazing.  People would confess some of the most interesting stuff because of the connection. 

And I wasn't practicing making these connections with any evil or manipulative intent.  In fact I didn't realize I was practicing anything at all.  I just truly enjoyed meeting people and people seemed to respond to that. 

Today in my prayer time, God once again connected the dots for me!  His attention to detail is astounding. 

 

I am developing a new business venture focusing on selling insurance, mortgages (in process of getting licensed), and other things over the phone.  What I have found is that I have an incredible way of getting people to warm up to me right over the phone.  Imagine that!

The skills that God has had me develop over many years without me even realizing it are coming to fruition!

Let me be very clear.  While I may have this new or at least enhanced skill, the only reason I have it is that God say fit years ago to start teaching and developing it in me!  Now there are some who would say this is all just coincidence. 

They can believe what they want.  I however believe with all my heart that it was God's purposeful hand guiding me to acquire the skills He knew I was going to need!

I so love living in God's favor!

Do you live in God's favor?  If not, would you like to?  It all starts with getting to Know Jesus.  Just have a little talk with Jesus.  Let Him know where you are at in life, what you need.  And then ask Him for His help.

Pretty simple right?  Why not give it a try right now?  "Dear Jesus…."

Thanksgiving - to whom are we thankful?

 

We have this great holiday called Thanksgiving.  But you really don't hear many in the media or anywhere else in society for that matter say who we should be thankful to. 

 

Well in my case let there be no question.  I am thankful to God for all of my blessings as well as all of my tribulations in life!!!  Each and every one of them!

 

Really?  Thankful for my tribulations?  Who you kidding?  That's BS!

 

Nope.  I am seriously grateful for the tribulations.  Why?  Because that is the first step in God's success plan that each and every one of us can put into action in our lives.  Doesn't cost a thing….other than being obedient to God.  :)

 

Romans 5:3-5(NKJV)

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

Why is it so important that we "glory in tribulations"?  I believe it is because it is an outward sign of our inner faith in God.

 

Folks, I have been incredibly blessed in the past year.  Lost over 80 pounds.  Went from barely being able to walk 10 minutes on a treadmill in January 2020 to running a minimum of 2.25 miles a day.  My health has improved immeasurably.  I am very grateful and I give God all of the credit, honor, and glory for those blessing! 

 

But the blessings don't stop there!  God has also started bringing some long term goals to fruition in my life and I am incredibly grateful and give God all of the credit, honor, and glory for that as well.  An additional blessing as part of that process is that God is connecting the dots and showing me how different failures and tribulations over the last 5 years were so vitally necessary for me to develop the new skill sets needed for the completion of the current goals as well as the new vision and goals that God has laid out before me! 

 

Life is so exciting when you live in God's favor! 

 

So that is why I want to make sure everyone knows who I am grateful to for all that I have in life.  I am grateful to God!  Thank you Lord!!!

Sometimes I wish God would just get to the point instead of slow walking me to a conclusion! :)

 

This is something that has always bugged me.  After all Moses did for God, because of one small variance by Moses, God punishes Moses by not letting Moses step foot in the promised land.  God even takes it a step further and seems to taunt Moses.  Takes Moses to the top of a mountain, shows all the land to Moses, and tells Moses "but you don't get to cross over.".  Almost like God saying "nanna, nanna, nanna!".

 

What is odd about today is that God stopped me when I read it and said let's delve a little further into this one today.  There is more here than you may realize.  God sure has His ways!  I was planning on a quick 15 minute walk with God and then I was ready to get on about my day.  Apparently God has other plans for me today.  :)

 

I have come to realize more and more how much writing helps me sort out my thoughts.  So what is it specifically that bugs me about this?  Let's start there.

 

God is supposed to be a just God.  God is supposed to be a forgiving God.  God says He will have mercy on whom He chooses to have Mercy on.  You get the point.

 

So why did God come down so hard on Moses?  Moses was the only prophet in history to see God face to face.  Moses served God like no other prophet.  Moses even talked God out of wiping out the Israelites because of their sinning ways.  God couldn't choose to show Moses a little Mercy? 

Let's look at what Moses did.  God told Moses how to call water from a rock.  Hold the staff out and command the water to come forth.  Moses, caught up in the moment, goes one step further.  He reaches out and taps the rock.  That's it.  Added one little flourish and for that Moses gets hammered. 

The punishment seems way out of proportion.  King David messed up way more and yet was not punished like that.  King Solomon messed up way more and wasn't punished like that.  Where is the justice?  Where is the forgiveness?  Where is the mercy?

 

As I was thinking this through God made an interesting new connection for me.  You know I always look for confirmation between the OT and the NT.  I had never made this connection before but there is a parallel story in the NT that has always bugged me in the same way.  Check this out.

 

Jesus comes into town and sees a fig tree.  Jesus wants a fig.  There are no figs on the tree because it isn't fig season.  Jesus gets ticked off and condemns the tree to die.  Why?  It wasn't the fig tree's fault it wasn't fig season.  I mean come on, God designed the system and Jesus did the work to implement it.  And now you are ticked off because the system you designed didn't give you what you wanted even though what you wanted was outside of the system that you designed?  Where is the justice?  Where is the forgiveness?  Where is the mercy?

 

So here we are.  I have now put into writing exactly what bugs me about it.  And this is where we get to the God slow walking me to the conclusion part.  As I was praying about this God said go a little deeper.  What really bugs you about this?  I had to stop and thing bout it.  What is it that really bugs me about these two stories?  Hmm.

 

Ah.  A new conclusion.  At a deeper level what bugs me is that we are told that God is a God of consistency.  That God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow is something that we don't question.  And yet here we have two stories, one from the OT and one from the NT, where God seems to act in a way that is totally inconsistent with the things that we believe about Him. 

 

That seems contradictory.  Ayn Rand says "Contradictions don't exist.  If you think you have found one, check your premise.".  And yes I get the irony of quoting an atheist in my Bible blog. :)

 

And that is where the slow walk ends for today folks.  :)

 

God brought this to my attention today and I am sure He had His reasons.  I don't believe things like this happen by accident.  He made some connections that I hadn't seen before and He has given me a new avenue of inquiry.  Checking my premises.  But He isn't just giving me the answers on a silver platter.  Apparently the answer will come down the road. 

I so love my walk with God, even when it is sometimes frustratingly slow.  :)

 

 

 

 

 

Another Confirmation!

 I have written many times about my belief that the heart issue is more important than the actual words you say when accepting Jesus.  What I mean by that is while Paul said that you have to say it with your mouth, etc;  Jesus simply says it is a heart issue. 

As you know I am always looking for confirmation of my beliefs in both the OT and NT.  So here I was looking for confirmation in the OT.  Look what I found today!
 

Deuteronomy 30:9-20(NKJV)

The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 

if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. 

It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 

Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 

But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 

in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 

But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 

I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 

that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

 

This is Moses making his last pronouncements to the Israeli people before God takes him.  Isn't Moses saying the same things as Jesus?  It is, and always has been a heart issue!

Thank you Lord for once again leading me to a new confirmation!  God is so cool!

Just another little coincidence! (others might say)

 

I just love how God can reach out so easily and communicate with us through Scripture. 

I had a couple of minor setbacks yesterday on some new goals I am working on.  One of my base Scriptures is Romans 5:3-5.  It is God's success plan all rolled into one.  I've written about this before so I won't go into detail but here is the Scripture.
 

Romans 5:3-5(NKJV)

And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So yesterday I delt with the issue as I always try to do.  I took joy in the tribulation and persevered.  By doing so it gave me an incredible sense of "peace that surpasses all understanding".  Pretty cool when you follow God's plan.  But it gets even better.

 

As many of you know, I try to read 1 chapter in the OT and 1 chapter in the NT everyday.  So when I sat down today to do my Bible study, guess what chapter I just happened to be on in the NT.  Romans 5!!!!!!!

Now there are many who would say it is just coincidence.  They can believe what they want.  Personally I believe that coincidences are just the little everyday miracles that God chooses not to take credit for. 

Personally it just made me smile and take joy!  It was like a personal note of encouragement from God!  Pretty darn cool if you ask me!

Thank you God, you made my day!  :)

It's Always A Pleasure Lord!

Today was one of those days where nothing really jumped off the page at me.  But the cool thing was that it didn't matter.  There is something about just being in the Word that is calming and comforting. 

 

I found myself thinking: "It's always a pleasure Lord!" just being in His presence.

What a great way to start the day!

 

LOL!!!!! God sure can make me laugh!!!!!

Oh man!  I hesitated to write this but if you know me at all you know that I am pretty much a what you see is what you get kind of guy, so here goes.  :)

 

You all know my pattern. Read one chapter from the OT and the NT and then blog about what God spoke to me that day from His word.

 

So after my reading I am in prayer and meditation looking for what God was telling me from His word today.  I'm looking for connections between the Deuteronomy passage and the Acts passage.  Nothing is coming to me so I bear down and concentrate and try harder.  Still nothing!

 

So I bear down even harder.  Concentrate even more.  Really trying to force the connections and the revelation.  That's when God whispered in my ear:

 

"Dude, you're not trying to take a dump here."  I burst right out loud laughing!!!!  I truly did.

 

And then God continued His lesson.  He said relax.  You can't force revelation.  Revelation comes from Me.  No matter how much you concentrate and bear down, you can not force revelation.

 

So there you have it!  The lesson for today had nothing to do with the text that I read but had all to do with God giving me a good hearted reminder that He is in charge, not me. 

 

I so love my walk with God!

 

God's amazing ability to focus our thoughts!

 

It never ceases to amaze me how God can make certain words pop off the page at you.  Once again we have an example of a scripture that I have read numerous times and had never noticed this one particular part. Read the text and I will comment on the other side.

 

Acts 26:19-20(NKJV)

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 

but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. 

 

Now in this text this is Paul speaking to King Agrippa. I've highlighted what caught my attention here. I have always thought of the book of James as the works book. You know we are taught that we are saved by faith but James brings back the idea of works have to go with faith. The concept being that they demonstrate to God in a concrete way our active faith.

 

So imagine my surprise when the words highlighted above jumped off the page at me. Isn't Paul in a way saying the same thing here as James says? Works be fitting repentance sounds an awful lot like works be fitting demonstration of our faith to me.

 

Very cool!