That It May Be Well With You

Would you like it to be well with you?  Would you like to have a peace in your heart that things are going to work out?  Even if you can't see it right now!  Well God has told us how to make that happen.  Take a look.

Deuteronomy 5:33(NKJV)

33You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 6:18-19(NKJV)

18And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, 

19to cast out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.   

Pretty simple isn't it?  Follow God and do what is right and good in His sight!  Look at all of the reading I just saved you.  Follow God and do what is right and good in His sight.

Now if we are following God, what do you think is the first right and good thing He would want us to do?  Accept Jesus! 

God has told us through His Word that Jesus is God's son.  Jesus came to earth and lived a sinless life.  Jesus was crucified even though He was innocent of any wrong doing.  He arose from the dead on the 3rd day.  He was seen by many, many people before He was taken up to Heaven where Jesus sits today at the right hand of God.

We are told in God's Word that by submitting to the crucifixion, Jesus took the punishment for all of our sins.  If we will simply ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, He will intercede with God on our behalf. 

So have you done that yet?  If not I'd invite you to do so right now.  Just close your eyes and say a little prayer.  Something like this.  "Dear Jesus, please come into my life and take over.  I believe in you and want you to guide my life from now on.  Please help me follow God and please help me discern what is right and good in God's sight.  Thank you so much.  Amen!"

That's it.  That's all you have to do.  Now what next?  Read the Bible a little each day and pray each day.  Thank God each day for the guidance He gave you the day before and for the guidance He will be giving you today. 

As long as you do those things, the rest will pretty much take care of itself.  So if you want it to be well with you, what do you do?

Follow God and do what is right and good in His sight!

Earned vs. Blessed

Deuteronomy 6:10-12(NKJV)

10“So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 

11houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—

12then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 

Deuteronomy 7:1-2(NKJV)

1“When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 

2and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. 

We can and should go out and work hard.  Have a plan.  Build a career.  Raise a family.  And over the years, through our earnings, build some wealth and accumulate some things.  And that is good.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Scripture tells us we should do these things.

But an amazing thing can happen if you will throw one more thing into the mix.  A focus on doing all of those things as God directs you through His plan for your life.  By making God the center of your family you please God and build favor.  By being a blessing to others you fulfill another one of God's instructions and again build favor with God. 

Look at the parts highlighted above.  When we lead a life that is pleasing to God, God has the ability to bless us beyond anything we could earn on our own.  He can help us and bless against all odds.   He can bless us in ways we never could have even anticipated!

Or we can just keep plodding along and trying to earn it ourselves.  Why not try it Gods way?

Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:14-16(NKJV)

14Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 

15For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 

16Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I have to constantly remind my self of this one.  It's counter intuitive, at least for me.  The idea that we can boldly approach God just seems a bit strange to me.  I mean come on, we're talking about the Almighty God here. 

But then if I refer to my main paradigm of God the Father it makes sense.  As a parent I don't want my kids cowering from me.  I want them to approach life confidently and as part of that I expect them to interact with me with confidence.  So why should I expect that God would want me to approach Him any differently? 

So as we approach God in our daily prayer life, let's do it with a renewed confidence!

We Must Give Account

Deuteronomy 4:24(NKJV)

24For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Hebrews 4:13(NKJV)

13And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Here are a couple of verses that go to a point I have made in the past.  The point is that God doesn't take a la dee dah, live and let live approach when people reject Jesus. 

Hebrews 4:13 tells us that all will have to give an account to God.  Not just those who accepted Jesus but all.  Imagine how uncomfortable that event is going to be.  Can you imagine standing before God and having to explain to Him that you didn't believe the Word (the Bible) that He gave us, you thought He was a liar.  Wow, I sure wouldn't want to be in that position.

Thankfully I don't ever have to be.  I have accepted Jesus as my Savior, have you?  When you accept Jesus you are telling God that you believe His Word and that you have faith in Him.  Doesn't mean life will be perfect.  Doesn't mean you won't sin or fail occasionally, but it does mean that you are right with God.

So how do you accept Jesus?  Pretty simple.  Just pray something like this:   Dear Jesus,  I don't totally get this whole thing but I am willing to take a leap of faith.  I can feel that tiny voice deep inside me telling me that I should follow you so I am going to do so.  Please take over my life and guide me.  Amen".  It's that simple and it sure beats having to explain to God that you thought He was a liar!

"Today, If You Will Hear His Voice…"

 

Hebrews 3:7(NKJV)

7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:      “Today, if you will hear His voice,

What a great line and what a great promise.  "Today, if you will hear his voice…"  As with all of God's promises, this one is conditional.  And as with all of God's other promises, the conditional part is within your control.  You can have it if you want it and take action. 

When can you enjoy a relationship with God?  "Today, if you will hear His voice…"

When can you expect God to start guiding your life?   "Today, if you will hear His voice…"

When can you expect God to start healing your heart and spirit?   "Today, if you will hear His voice…"

When can you expect God to bestow His favor on you?   "Today, if you will hear His voice…"

When can you expect God to hear your prayers?   "Today, if you will hear His voice…"

And how do we hear His voice? 

By accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  By simply asking Jesus to come into our lives and guide us.  Have you done that yet?  Why not do it now?  Just something simple like, "Dear Jesus, I don't understand the whole deal yet but I can feel in my heart that it is right to ask you to take over my life and help guide me.  Today, I want to start hearing God's voice.  Thank you so much.  Amen!"

Sometimes we have to fight for it!

Deuteronomy 2:26-34(NKJV)

26“And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, 

27‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. 

28You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on foot, 

29just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’

30“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.

31“And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ 

32Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. 

33And the Lord our God delivered him over to us; so we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. 

34We took all his cities at that time, and we utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. 

There is an interesting lesson in todays passage.  Here we have the Israelites wandering around in the dessert for 40 years waiting to take possession of the land that God had promised.  Now that waiting time is over and God tells them to go possess the land He has promised them. 

Here's the lesson.  Even though God had promised it to them and He had told them that now is the time to take it, in the end they still had to fight for it!

Has God given you a vision for your life?  Has He made promises to you?  Has He told you to go for it but nothing seems to be happening yet?  Do there seems to be things or circumstances blocking your way and stopping you?

Well then learn the lessons of this passage and fight for the vision that God has given you.  Just because God promised you something doesn't mean He promised it on a silver platter.   A lot of time there are important lessons to be learned from the struggle. 

So if God has given you a vision for your life and you believe in it, then be ready to go out and fight for the life God has promised you!

Whom I Serve With a Pure Conscience

2 Timothy 1:3(NKJV)

3I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 

Isn't that really the epitome of what we should do? Serve God with a pure conscience.  Communicate with God.  Get to know His purpose for your life.  Don't let others try to tell you what it is.  Get the scoop directly from God.

And if at the end of the day you can say "I am serving God with a pure conscience" you'll know you are on the right track!