- Standing Fast or Moving Forward?
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There are times when God commands us to move forward in faith so that He can execute His will for us.
Exodus 14:13-15 KJV
(13) And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.
(14) The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.
(15) And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Then, there are other times when He informs us that it is He who will do all of the work, and that we only need to stand still and see the salvation of the LORD.
2 Chronicles 20:15-17 KJV
(15) And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's.
(16) To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.
(17) Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
How does one determine which situation calls for which response? There is no magic or mathematical formula that will tell you when to do what. Christianity is about seeking God’s will in all circumstances, rather than relying on our own sense of what is right.
The revealed will of God, the Bible, should direct our steps on a daily basis – in combination with prayer. This will set our feet on the right path as it pertains to moral conduct, righteous judgment and proper lifestyle principles. But, there are still many aspects of the critical decisions that we face in life that are not clearly answered by the Bible alone.
- Whom should I marry?
- What profession should I pursue?
- Where should I live?
- How should I respond to specific trials and tribulations?
Certainly, the Bible provides guidelines about all of these questions. There are clear principles that are outlined to help us know what not to do, and what we can/should do in a general sense. However, even if you have ruled out all of the people you should NOT marry (as an example), or all of the sources of employment that would be inappropriate, there are still lots of choices left, and God is more than willing to help us with them.
We need to pray and be receptive to His leading, and He will be happy to guide our every step. There’s no reason to go on autopilot when we have a master pilot who desires to lead us and guide us.
1 Chronicles 14:8-17 tells of two such situations in the life of King David. In both cases, the Philistines came up to meet him for battle in the same location. In both cases, David petitioned the Lord to know how he (David) was supposed to deal with the situation. David did not take it upon himself to act in the second battle as he had acted in the first because of how similar the conditions were. He did not rationalize that God would want him to do the same thing again. He prayed, and in response, God gave him slightly different instructions.
In the first battle, God basically told David to fight for himself and God would be with him to deliver his enemies into his hands. In the second battle, however, God told him to wait for a signal because God was going to go forth “before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.”
We have no need to worry or guess about which path to take. If we pray, earnestly and sincerely and in repentance, we will be directed in the way that we should go.
- In God’s Strength
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The success of the Christian lies in turning things over to God, and then allowing Him to lead and direct us. I say “allowing” because God does not take away our free will. He enters when we let Him, but will not prevent us from once again taking control as soon as we feel “ready” to manage our own affairs.
As a parent with children between the ages of 9 and 15, it starts to become obvious what God has to deal with on a regular basis, as children will readily ask you for advice, but still do what they want to do if you give them instruction or guidance that they don’t think is as good as their own.
One of the reasons we have so much difficulty in overcoming habitual problems, is that after we turn over the problems to God, we don’t leave them with Him or follow the instructions He gives us for dealing with them. When we find something in our lives that is consuming too much of our time, His solution is to get rid of it altogether. Ours? We want to exercise self control in moderate usage.
This is called playing with fire.
And we wonder why we struggle with certain issues!
We need to surrender to God and stay surrendered while He works out the issues that we have. Imagine how much easier things would be, and how thorough our victories would become, if we didn’t usurp control of our wayward lives as soon as things looked good again.
Success in the Christian life comes through God. We just have to learn how to stay out of the way.
Matthew 16:24-26 KJV
(24) Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
(25) For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
(26) For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Constant Prayer is Constant Power
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Luke 18:1-8 KJV
(1) And He spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
(2) Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
(3) And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
(4) And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;
(5) Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
(6) And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said.
(7) And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
(8) I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?
In the discussion about faith in the Christian life, we often believe that we are exhibiting faith when we pray for something a couple of times, then sit back and “wait upon the LORD” to provide it.
The Bible, however, indicates that perseverance is a key element of prayer. In the above parable that Jesus told, He emphasized that prayer needs to be performed regularly – even to the point of what we might otherwise describe as nagging.
This constant praying for what we need is not a sign of faithlessness. We accept *each* time we pray that God has heard us, but by constant prayer, we also keep in mind our dependence upon God for the answer to those prayers. Just as little children will not stop asking until you have provided them the answer they seek, so we should continue seeking answers from God – we just need to be sure to submit ourselves according to His will!
There are a few excellent examples in the Bible of praying fervently to God.
Jacob (Genesis 32:24-30) wrestles with God both physically and spiritually as he seeks forgiveness and a promise of protection from his brother. He would not let go of God until he was assured of his promise.
David (2 Samuel 12:16-23) prays for the life of his newborn son for seven days, to the point of not eating or drinking. Once the child finally dies, he arises and goes about his normal activities. He does not lose faith because his prayer was not answered, but submits himself to God, accepting the punishment that is rendered for his sin.
Elijah (1 Kings 18:41-45;James 5:17-18) prays for rain. Most impressively, he prays knowing that God wants it to rain, but he does not stop with one, two, three or five prayers, but prays seven (7) times until his servant sees a small cloud.
We need to do more than just pray and believe. We need to pray without ceasing. Our prayer should be continual, and this would give us victory over sin, and comfort in times of trial and tribulation. Because we do not continue often in prayer, we make God our 4th and 5th option where He should be our first. We only remember Him when all else has failed us.
James 5:14-16 KJV
(14) Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
(15) And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
(16) Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
We would have more power in our daily lives if we would pray more earnestly and more regularly and more continually for what we seek of God. Our faith would be manifest by our perseverance, and not just our patient waiting. And our prayers would be more powerful as we banded together.
It is not a sin to ask God repeatedly for the same thing – even when we have been promised that thing. It is actually in accordance with His will.
Here we are given three vital keys to a successful prayer life:
- Pray constantly, regularly, fervently
- Come together to pray in unity
- Pray for each other
Little prayer, little power.
Much prayer, much power.
Constant prayer, constant power.
Which one do you want to have?!?
- Running the Christian Race
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1 Corinthians 9:24-25 EMTV
(24) Do you not know that those running in a stadium all run, but one receives the prize? So run, in order that you may win.
(25) And everyone who competes exercises self-control in all things. Now they compete in order that they may receive a perishable crown, but we compete for an imperishable crown.
The comparison of the Christian life to an athlete’s life is centered on the focus, dedication and perseverance that is needed in both endeavors. Now, while the athlete relies on sheer will-power to achieve his or her goals, the Christian bends his or her will to surrendering self to God, which allows the Christian to tap into a power source that can overcome sin and temptation.
We must still use our willpower, because it is our God-given resource for freedom of choice, but rather than attempting to keep the law in our own strength, we can instead keep the law through the power of Jesus.
“Daniel purposed in his heart…” (Daniel 1:8). This is a very powerful text that shows how we must use the will.
Just as the star athlete chooses voluntarily to forgo things that do not help him attain his ultimate goal, and just as he focuses on exercise, rest and diet to put him in the best position to win the big trophy, so should the Christian put aside everything that will not strengthen, edify, or enrich his relationship with God.
The two advantages that the Christian has over the athlete is that only one athlete in any given sport may win the prize in a given year, the athlete has only human assistance in the form of trainers and coaches. Every Christian, however, has the opportunity to be a winner in God (because the Christian is not competing with other Christians), and in addition to human assistance from pastors, teachers and other believers, the Christian has access to the power of Jesus Christ through the agency of the Holy Spirit. With Jesus, there is no losing for the Christian, but without Jesus, there is no victory.
And we must strive each day to hold on to Jesus, because this is the only path to true victory. This is where daily prayer and Bible study come in. And also avoiding distractions and diversions.
Let us be at least as dedicated in our daily Christian walk as the superstar athletes are in their endeavors for their annual championship trophies.
- Following in Faith
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Hebrews 11:6 KJV
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The Christian pathway is one of walking by faith. As we follow God’s leading, He rewards our faith, and we also grow to trust Him. There are many aspects of walking by faith:
- Walking where you understand
- Walking when all other options are closed
- Walking when you can’t see why
…When You Understand
Most of us do not have any problem with the first scenario. These are situations where God is asking you to go to a place, and at a time, that seems to make sense to you. It is very easy to “follow” under those circumstances, and most of us do.
…When There Are No Other Options Many of us even manage to do well in the second scenario. These are situations where you have run out of every human option, and you turn everything over to God, because He’s all you have left. Some of us do have problems with this scenario, but many of us are able to get to a point where we say, “Your will be done, Lord. I have no where else to go.”
The problem is that we sometimes waste a lot of time getting to this point.
…Why You Don’t Understand Why The really touchy scenario is number three. Many of us struggle to follow God’s leadings when we can’t understand why the path is pointing the way it is, or why He appears to be saying certain things. We start to ask, “is this really God speaking to me?”
This is when faith is most needed. In fact, sometimes, we wear ourselves out in this scenario until we have run out of options, and it turns into scenario #2. It does not have to be that way…
The question, “Is this really God speaking to me?” is our polite way of saying, “I don’t understand why I’m being asked to go in this direction… Why can’t we do it my way?”
Hebrews 11:8 KJV
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Until we learn to trust God in all facets of life, and even in those times where we cannot grasp His reasons, we will necessarily have a weaker spiritual experience than He has planned for us.
Faith, like muscle, grows through exercise. Following God by faith leads to a stronger and stronger faith, and that allows us to be wherever God needs us to be with the least possible wasting of time.
Are you willing to make the effort to follow God in faith, especially when you can’t understand why He has selected a particular path?
He promises to richly bless you – both here and hereafter.