Walking In His Will

 Working outside of God's Will:

1. Impatience - straining and striving to make it happen, don't do anything in haste. 

    Instead, go to Him, wait on the Lord, seek Him first, you will hear a voice behind you saying, "this is the way, walk in it." (Isaiah 30:21)

2. Testing the Wind - letting situations guide you when you ought to be guided by the Word of God.

    Instead, let God guide you with a strong, inner conviction of His will. (see above)

3. Seeking Ease - the convenience and comfortable places of life.

    Instead, obey God, being faithful to Him.  He is there, even in the storm.

4. Following the Majority - letting the world sway you (John 12:43)

    Instead, obey the Lord and His direction, regardless of anyone else's opinion, understanding that godly council with prayer can be helpful.

Stand for the Word of God and for Righteousness, even if you stand alone.

Surrender, Obedience

 Acts 26:14, Jesus is saying, "Stop fighting against me, and surrender."

For such a time as this: God has a purpose for you.  Don't miss this opportunity.

Delayed obedience is still disobedience.

God measures success by obedience, not results.

Be open to God's leading, to interruptions in your life, be flexible for those divine appointments.

Your testimony is for His glory.  Tell your story for His glory.

I forgive you.

I forgive you.

For the apology that will never come.

For the hurt you caused.

I forgive you.

I see your pain.

I see your fear.

I forgive you.

For misunderstanding.

For hiding yourself.

For running away.

I forgive you.

I pray for you.

I ask the LORD's will be done.

I ask for Him to be glorified through it all.

His timing is perfect.

He is at work in even this.

Division

Conservative posts, Liberal posts.  Both are guilty of placing blame and vilifying the other viewpoint.  The division is increasing exponentially.

It has moved from the political realm to society, and into the family unit.  Some people simply choose to silence any opposing viewpoint.  There is no attempt to listen.  There is no open-minded conversation.  They are firmly grounded in their own point of view so completely that relationships are being damaged.  It makes me sad.  I am sad to see the inability to rejoice in the amazing work that God has done because of this division.

Free speech goes both ways.  You can’t have one expression of speech without being willing to listen to another.  To silence any opposing thought destroys any chance of relationship.  That is what makes it personal: to publicly proclaim your viewpoint and immediately silence any other.  

If your voice is more important than listening, the relationship will fail. Without relationship your voice becomes meaningless noise.

1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or clanging symbol."

I must also ask forgiveness because I have spoken without obvious love -not that it wasn't there, but that I didn't make it priority in a conversation.  If I have done that to you, I am sorry and ask your forgiveness.

Seek Him Above All Else.

My conversations with God have been comforting as of late.  He seems to be reiterating the necessity of putting Him first in everything and trusting Him with the rest.

He continues to remind me that seeking Him first, looking to Him first, and obeying Him first are my priorities.  He will handle the remainder.

Ecclesiastes 1:18 "...to increase knowledge only increases sorrow."

    In this day and age, knowledge and information are increasing exponentially, and one can get lost in it all.  He tells me to keep my focus on Him over all else.

Ecclesiastes 2:26 "God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please Him..."

    I see worldly knowledge vs. godly knowledge as two very different things in these two verses.

Ecclesiastes 3: 11-14 "...God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. ...And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.  And I know that whatever God does is final.  Nothing can be added to it or taken from it.  God's purpose is that people should fear Him." 

    His plan.  His works.  Final. Trust in Him.  Relinquish it all to Him.

Philippians 4:4-7 (NKJV)

Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

His ways are not mine. Thank God for that!

 Your ways are not our ways.

Praise you, Lord, for that truth.

Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near.  Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive."

Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.' This is the Lord's declaration."

Isaiah 55:9 "For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.  For just as rain and snow fall from heaven and do not return there without saturating the earth and making it germinate and sprout, and providing seed to sow and food to eat, so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please and will prosper in what I send it to do."