Is your Faith based on His Will or your will?

A woman living in the 17th century wrote this prayer: 

Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old.  Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion. Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy.  With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all.  But Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details.  Give me wings to get to the point. Seal my lips on my aches and pains.  They are increasing -- and the love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the time goes by.

I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of other's pains, but help me to endure them with patience.  I dare not ask for improved memory but for a growing humility and a lessening of how sure I am when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet.  I do not want to be a saint -- some of them are so hard to live with.  But a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people.  And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

When we encounter the difficult times in life, THAT is when it is hard to ask for God’s will and not insert our desire only. Sharing our desire is important, because we need to be consciously aware of what we want, however, we express our faith when we entrust God with the decision.

I experience this and so do many I know. Intellectually it is a “no brainer” to understand that our all-loving God want’s what He knows to be best, but finite beings that we are…Here & Now is all we see! 

Jesus gave us the example: 

Luke 22:41–44 “And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”… And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”

Matthew 26:38- 39 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death…he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 

We know the outcome of that prayer! God loves His creation – US – so much that His will was to sacrifice Himself so we could choose to live eternally with Him or with those that refuse a relationship with Him.

The So What: Do you want His Will or your way? How do you approach life, from an eternal perspective or a Temporal one? Which is more important in your life: what you have or what you are? 

Faith is not a word based on feelings – but a word based on fact!

I decided to invest some time for now to encourage anyone that is struggling with their outward circumstances impacting their inward convictions. 

Is your faith being stretched due to what you are going through. It is real easy to talk how to live above the circumstances of life, very…very different to live it!

The Holy Spirit used a phone call from a dear brother to motivate me to move in this direction. 

First and foremost, thank all you that have…number run, read my updates. Many missionaries have said to me they feel that very few read what they send…I think they are mistaken. However, you, our team have made our family feel loved and communicated to through all of our ministry years. The brother that called me was vital to my growth as a Christian many years ago as we discipled together. Please understand, in a Biblical discipleship, except in the case of Jesus and His disciples, we disciple each other. I learned much and grew because of what my brother poured into me. Obviously, Jesus did not need to be kept accountable or share His sins and failures with His disciples, because He was the perfect, sinless man. 

I, actually have a Doctorate in sin! That is why I so desperately needed a Savior! 

Sometimes things don’t seem right – consider these actual hospital reports:

* By the time he was admitted, his heart had stopped, and he was feeling better. 

* The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983.

* Discharge status: Alive but without permission.

* The patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with

only a 40-pound weight gain in the past three days.

* The patient refused an autopsy.

It is one thing to have a wrong medical report, it is a disaster to possess wrong faith! I will look at this over the next few Devos I write.

To begin with, if you allow your feelings to control your faith you will never see the power God intends it to be. We cannot depend on ourselves, or our emotions. Our faith must be alone in God! Doctors, medicine, healthy living, sensible eating, etc. are all important, but they are only outcomes of God’s guidance to us as we place our faith in Him about how we should live. 

So, to leave one thought with you: 

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.  

The so What: How can you know what to believe from God if you do not invest time to get to know Him with the tool He gave us to know Him – His Word! Read His Word, Listen To His Word, Watch Movies and TV based on Scripture. DD and I listen to audible books about God as we go to sleep. Immerse yourself in getting to know Him…He WILL immerse Himself in you! 

You are here because God planned you…You are what you are because…you made you.

God created us…but left the finishing to us. We either choose to do that with His help or on our own.

Probing Proverbs 15:1-2 A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a fool belches out foolishness.

 

“I am what I am”, “Do your own thing”, “You do your thing, and I will do my thing”, “God made me this way”, “I can’t help what I am.”- Nice little sayings that we came up with, sadly, too many times they are only to justify our actions. In reality, those sayings are a lie, because no individual lives on an island! Our actions affect others even if we don’t want them to, and God did create you, but then gave you the freedom to decide how you would behave! Here is the Reality: “If you disappeared to a deserted island, all of those you left; family, friends, and others would have to process that loss and learn to live without you.” 

We hope that would be a bad thing and they would miss us! No sane person wants others to be glad when they are gone! Our hope is that most of those that know us do not feel we are more trouble than we are a blessing. 

This Proverb makes four action statements with the results that take place. We have discussed them already, but before we move on, I would like to discuss a very important Truth that arises from this passage. Actually, it would be in the form of a question: What kind of mindset do you desire to have? One where the rational and factual part of your mind controls your emotions…or, One where the impulsive and reactionary part of your mind controls your emotions?

The latter is very essential! That part is the one that makes you jump in front of a car to protect your child or to jump at the sound of the bat hitting the ball and make the catch! We need those emotions, ask any bodyguard of the rich and famous.  

However, that is not the healthy way to approach most of life. Life, for the greater part, does not jump out at us. We have time to see what is coming and can plan a measured response. If we are proactive, we can even think ahead of a planned encounter and seek God’s help in our ability to control our emotions. Take the time to plan.

The So What: Do you live most of your life “moment to moment?” If so, why? Have you ever taken time at the beginning of the day or the end, to consider what is coming your way for the next 5-7 days? Wouldn’t life move smoother if you took it “one bite at a time” instead of trying to gulp it all at once only to find out that life has several more portions than you planned?

Being a Father and a Dad!

 In Germany, 8 years old, walking with my dad to go bowling. The night before I had heard him and my mom talking. My mother was concerned because my father had been given the news that he might be sent to Vietnam. Pop was only 5’7”, but at that moment, holding his hand and looking up at him, he was like a giant.

He saw me and stopped, being a spy, he was very observant. He knelt down and looked me in the eye and asked, “are you ok buddy?” I said, “Daddy, are you going to go to war and die?” As a spy, my dad knew when to lie and when not to, he said, “I can’t promise that, only God controls that, but I can promise you, buddy, I will love you as long as I am here.”
  
Patēr  - πατήρ,  &  Abba - Ἀββᾶ are two words used in the NT for father.
 
Scholars disagree whether these two words meant the same or whether one brought more intimacy to its meaning.
 
Forgive me, because I really do not care. The most efficient way to understand a word is how it is used in its direct context. 

For example, A drug Lord states he sold his dope for the “bread”. He clearly does not mean the kind you bake and spread butter on!
 
The context in these three passages definitely communicates a deep intimacy.

"Father” can communicate authority and intimacy, but “daddy” speaks more to care, closeness, and deep communion.   
 
Mark 14:32–42 (36)
And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” 
 
Rom 8:14-17 (15)
“For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 
 
Gal 4:1-7 (6) 
Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.”  
 
The So What?: Are you searching for a “dad”? The God of creation knew you before the egg was fertilized in your mother’s womb. Turn off the voices of this world that encourage you to be your own god, and deny that a supreme, almighty Creator planned every single human soul! He desires to be your GOD, your Helper, your Friend, and your Daddy. He loves you so much He left that decision up to you. Just ask Him to be your Dad…if you don’t know how, ask me, I can share what His Word says to do.