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Bring Back the Joy --- B B t J . O r g
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A SPIRIT LED VISION
"Where there is no vision, my people perish." Proverbs 29:18 It is necessary to have a vision. It is necessary to trust God. When you trust God and have vision, you have hope. Some people like to be guided by the Holy Spirit (HS) and make every decision that way. This can be good. Some people like to plan out every detail. This also can be good. But the right path is down the middle. It's been said, not having a plan is a plan to fail. And that is true too. God expects us to grow in grace and knowledge. Which means we increase in wisdom. Knowledge is learning the principles that God has put into place that underpin not only the natural laws but the supernatural laws. If we work according to these principles, we can walk in blessing. If we don't, then we need a constant stream of miracles or we perish. Do you want to walk in blessing? Or constantly live in faith for the next miracle on even the simplest of issues? Blessing? Then meditate on God's Word which has in it many principles as does natural science. After all God did say man is without excuse because even the very creation demonstrates the creator. Romans 1:20 So what kind of principles are we talking about? The other night, I was having trouble with cell phone signal. In order to make a call I had to make, I stepped up on a hand rail in front of the building belonging to our ministry. It was fine, standing up there while there was light. As the phone call went on, it became dark; before long I couldn't see my feet. What had been safe earlier was now proven to be dangerous as I mistakenly stepped beyond the end of the hand rail. Not realizing what I was doing, as I "went home", I somehow expected thin air to support me. Even Jesus didn't walk on air, he walked on water. I also couldn't see the ground coming, so I turned my ankle on it, fell, and rolled as my phone flew in the other direction. But for the grace of God, I could have bashed my head, broken my wrist, etc. I may actually have broken my ankle; I couldn't stand on it. So I put my hand over it and in the name of Jesus, claimed that it be whole. I got my miracle. Regardless of its situation, broken or not, now I could stand on it whereas a minute earlier, I couldn't. This specific situation is nowhere discribed in the bible, yet is an example of how violating principles of life can end up requiring a miracle. I still have to deal with the bruises but I am happy to have them considering what could have happened. Praise God! In the same way... as God calls you into any situation, the Holy Spirit will guide you and give you wisdom and insight in situations that go beyond your natural ability to handle. However, God also expects you to be a good steward of the things he has already taught you. Where he may have done a miracle in the past because you were in ignorant and your heart was right, he may now not do the miracle to reinforce in you the knowledge he has already given you. Just like we expect more as children get older and grow into teenagers and adults. We give more grace to the younger and teach them while requiring more of those older that should already know. So God gives us grace and miracles in our areas of ignorance but as we grow up and mature in grace and knowledge, shouldn't we want to make Him proud by making the kinds of decisions he would want us to make without even having to ask? How proud is a parent who watches his child do the right thing and do well with the parent having to do nothing but stand by and watch. Versus the parent always having to get involved to fix problems. Truly...we will never grow to God's level so we will always need his involvement regarding the new situations or circumstances he gives us as we grow. It is for those things that we need to continually walk with and communicate with God through his Holy Spirit, not for the things we are already mature enough to handle. At CBC we were taught that if you don't have a vision, join another man's vision and support him. During that time, you will grow until you receive your vision. Or maybe your vision isn't mature and needs time to meld, so you support a man who is ahead of you in a similar vision. What is the last thing you were told by the Holy Spirit? It is logical to continue with that until directed otherwise. We need to have a vision. And it is good to make a plan concerning that vision, consulting the Holy Spirit. However, as a case in point, if the Holy Spirit tells us to build a dog house, he may not tell us step-by-step how to do it. Noah hadn't seen a boat before. We can find out how to build a dog house by buying an instruction book at Home Depot. (He'd only tell us if it mattered what it looked like.) However, I would sure obey if he tells me to paint it brown. If we are communing with God, then the plan is God led because we are willing to adjust the plan per his instructions. People say that God is a "Last minute God". That he only provides the miracle we need after we have proven our faith. This is true, BUT I think there is a bigger reason. God is communicating with us in many ways all the time, if we will listen, learn, use the principles he has given us, if we will seek and apply wisdom, then we can walk in blessing instead of needing that miracle. I believe that God is waiting for us to take responsibility and for us to conform with the principles that bring us into blessing. Then only at the last minute, as we prove once again that we are not going to do it in yet another situation, does God give us the miracle we now need. He does it because he loves us! Ask yourself -- Might living so that we always need a last minute miracle perhaps even be abusing our relationship with our ever loving father who cares for us anyway despite this? Might it even be time to Grow Up? The fact that he cares for us anyway is proof that God will meet us where we need him, but if we love him we will take responsibility for maturing, making proper decisions, and have faith that when we fall (and we will), he is there to pick us up. Both our physical and spiritual knowledge is being added to daily ( Isaiah 28:10 and Isaiah 28:13 ) if we allow it, or better yet, seek it. This is what is meant by Matthew 6:33. It's about building a relationship with God, that's what he's waiting for. He has already done his part. The Holy Spirit does bring things to remembrance, and he even teaches us intuitively when we need it. But He also assumes that we are the sum of our experiences and he won't have to repeat everything. Taking action and continuing in "what we know" is part of Faith. We have melded with God by learning his principles, meditating on His Word and coming to know him. We don't have to continually ask for direction on every little detail; we take action--we step out in faith. And are blessed. |
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