PATHWAY OF LIGHT

God wants to make our life easier. We can allow Him to do this if we use His Word (Holy Bible) as our Instruction Manual. This reminds me of a story I heard once. A father picked his little boy up at Sunday School. The little boy looked up at his father and said, “I know what the Bible means.” The father, surprised, said “Really, son. What does it mean?” The little boy very proudly responded, “It is Book of Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” The little boy is absolutely correct.

Enter my gates….

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS

This morning I sit here in amazement and awe on how personal our God is and can be with me and each one of us. The King of Kings not only loves me, He talks with me. Through other blogs, through church, through books, through the Bible, through other people, through my spirit. I poured out my heart to HIm the other night regarding a book He has wanted me to write since I first started writing and He has been reassuring me ever since He is with me, He heard me, He is the writer, it is His plan, NOT MINE!! What an amazing God we have that He can listen to me and millions of others, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

 How many times do we put our humanness, our human qualities or capabilities on the One who created us and all that’s around us? When will we quit trying to put our God in a box? When will we quit de-personalizing our God? When will we completely surrender every little concern to our God? Folks, I’m including me in that we!!!!

Psalm 32: 8-9 was in my reading this morning and it says it all. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” How much more personal, loving, caring, and explicit can He get?

 

WHAT IS YOUR EYES ON?

“I will keep my eyes always on The Lord; with Him at my right hand I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:8

In this world where our attention can be so easily and quickly diverted; who has your attention? When we keep our eyes on God, everything else falls into place. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Choose God!!

WHERE DO YOU HIDE?

When the world is falling in on you and you feel besieged; where do you go to hide? Go to the One who has the power to fight your battle.

Matthew 6:26-27 NIV

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.”

God’s Beauty

Where Are You?

Genesis 3:8-9, “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of The Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from The Lord God among the trees of the garden. But The Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Satan wants us to believe God was bellowing angrily as He stormed through the garden looking for “the man and his wife”. The truth is He wa leisurely walking through the garden, enjoying His creation, when He quizzically called out, “Where are you?” After all, it had been their daily routine since Creation. He knew what they had done yet He still wanted to walk with them.  He still wanted to enjoy their companionship. Was He angry? NO!! Most likely, He was saddened for He knew the relationship between them had changed forever and He knew it was necessary to discipline “the man and his wife”. There is a great lesson to be learned here. “The man and his wife” had committed the ultimate sin. God had told them they could enjoy the garden, do anthing they desired, but you must not “eat fruit from the tree in middle of the garden and you must not touch it…” At this point in time there was no greater sin.  Many of us believe that if God knew how we had lived, knew the many sins we had committed, knew the deep dark secret we’ve kept locked up deep down inside; He could not love us.  He would not desire to walk with us ever again. However, these verses show The Lord God does forgive us’ The Lord God does still love us. The truth is, even knowing “the man and his wife” had committed the ultimate sin, He still wanted to walk with them. The Lord God still returned to walk with them. The truth is: He knows how you have lived, He knows the sins you have committed, and He knows the deep dark secret you have locked up deep down inside, AND HE STILL LOVES YOU AND WANTS TO WALK WITH YOU!!  Do you hear the Lord God asking, “Where are you?”

WHO/WHAT IS YOUR GOLIATH?

I Samuel 17 tells the story of David & Goliath. Stop, get your Bible, and read this true-life tale of how a young man slayed a giant because He knew and believed His Friend, God. In particular, focus on verses 45-47. This story is one you and I have heard so many times, we miss the jewels that are hidden in these verses. We go, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.  This little runt of a man comes up and against this giant and kills him with only a rock and a slingshot.” Then we say to ourselves, “I know it’s a story about the weak overcoming the strong.”

However, take a really intense look at chapter 17 and discover the pearls hidden in these verses.  Before we get started, we must look at some solid facts. Goliath, according to Scripture is between 9 and 11 feet tall. The American Standard Version states he is 11’3″. His armor weighed 5,000 shekels or  approximately 125 pounds. The iron point on his spear alone weighed 600 shekels or about 15 pounds. While David’s height and weight are not revealed, historians place him to be about 17 years so they feel he was around 5′ tall give or take a few inches. In all probability, David probably didn’t weigh anymore than Goliath’s armor and spearhead!! One of Goliath’s legs more than likely equaled the person of David in height and weight. Noone believed David could defeat this giant. His own brother thought he was being a conceited braggart. The king even questioned his ability to slay this giant. Finally, in the 40 days this Philistine taunted the Isrealite army, there is not one mention of anyone consulting God. No priest, no prophet, no sacrifices were made to receive God’s instructions. How many times, as we are facing our Goliaths, do we not even think to talk with God?

God has given us six steps to slay our Goliath. First, David knew his God. It is easy to say “Duh!” at this point but for 40 days several thousand men faced this giant and quaked in their boots. They cowered in fear. Why? They looked at Goliath with their physical eyes and not their spiritual eyes. What is your Goliath? Who is your God? David’s God was all-powerful. This giant was nothing in comparison to God. Is your Goliath more powerful than God?

Second, David believed God could do exactly what God says He can do. “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of The Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day The Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth….” David knew what God would do for his children, the Israelites. Too many times, we forget our Father is the all-powerful God What is your Goliath? Who is your God?

Third, David remembered his past experiences with God. When asked by Saul if he could slay this giant; David replied, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep.  When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear.” David knew God had given him the means to kill these animals. This gave David the confidence to know God was going to give him the means to slay this giant. What is your Goliath? Who is your God?

Fourth, David knew God worked in uncoventional ways and was willing to be obedient. David had probably heard how a farmer named Noah had built an ark on his property even though there was no water anywhere in the vicinity. Why? Because God told him to. The result, Noah became the second father to the human race. David, every Passover, learned how a prince of Egypt had murdered an Egyptian official, fled to the wilderness, listened to a burning bush, and eventually led the Isrealite people to freedom. Are you willing to do whatever God tells you, even if it doesn’t make sense? What is your Goliath? Who is your God?

Fifth, David had the right perspective. Everyone looked at this giant and said he was too big to defeat. David looked at this giant and said he was too big to miss. Too many times we look at our Goliath with our physical eyes rather than our spiritual eyes. What is your Goliath? Who is your God?

Finally, and most importantly, David was not killing this giant for his own personal gain. David was killing this giant for God’s glory. David states, “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that The Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands.” Why are you wanting to overcome your Goliath? For your own personal benefits or to show others what a great, loving, caring God we have?

God has given us in these verses our own personal plan in overcoming our Goliath:

1. Know your God. Study your Bible daily.

2. Believe your God is who He says He is and will do what He says He will do.

3. Remember  those times you’ve seen God work in your life.

4. Keep your focus on God. Stop looking with your physcial eyes and start looking with your spiritual eyes. Is Goliath stronger than God?

5. Ask yourself, “Is this for my  glory or will  I  tell others how God has slayed my  Goliath?”

Look at your Goliath and tell him you “come against him in the name of The Lord Almighty…This day The Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head.” Maybe Jesus was remembering this incident with David when he looked at his disciples and said, “Have faith in God…I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:23)

HAVE YOU MADE YOUR RESERVATION?

In this last week we have had at least 15 people killed in explosions and hundreds injured. One thing I can guarantee is not one of them thought when they awoke in the morning they would be dead before bedtime. All of them thought they had many years ahead of them. We don’t know when our last day is, when our last meal will occur on this earth. There is one certainty. There is life after death. Everyone has the opportunity to enjoy life after death with their Creator. When a Pharisee declared Jesus had “come from God”, Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Then Jesus goes on to say, “…no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” This may sound mysterious but Paul puts it plainly in his letter to the Romans, “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” What does it mean when it says “you will be saved”? It means you will see the “kingdom of God” and you will have eternal life. Rest assured, after death you can speand eternity in a place that is not in the presence of God. Jesus spoke of it many times while he was here on this earth. He said it clearly in his talk with Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” God loves you! God wants to spend eternity with you! He went to a great expense just so He could spend eternity with you. God is taking reservations and would love to write your name in the Book of Life. How about making your reservation today?