Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Have You Checked Out God's Plan Lately?

"Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers, For they will wither quickly like grass and fade like the green herb" (Psa. 37:1-2).  Notice his next words, "Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness; Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart” (vs. 3-4), but he does not leave it there. The Psalmist continues, 

"Commit your way to the Lord, Trust in Him, and He will do it.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday" (Psa. 37:1-6). 

Hey Gang:  Psalm 37 is one of my favorites, especially the first six verses.  David certainly had a way with words.  Notice there are four very key words in this passage:  trust, dwell, delight and commit.  He used these words as alternatives to fretting and gripping because of the evilness that surrounded him.  I sense he had tested these words, in his many battles, and had learned that those who use devious means to gain, in this world, would soon fade away as the grass of the field.

Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel during the early years of restoration, often wondered why God did  not have the children of Israel make a right turn, when entering the Promise Land, go into Saudi Arabia and claim that as part of the land of milk and honey.  Did you ever wonder why many of those who have been blessed with great wealth do not honor God with the riches?  You would think that they would be first in line to bow down before the Lord. 

What they do not realize is they will "Wither like grass and fade like the green herb" (James 1:11).  Two hobos were sitting on the curb talking when a hearse went by carrying the remains of one who had been the most dominate person on Knob Hill to his final resting place. One hobo turned to the other and said, "I wonder how much he left?"  The other responded, "All of it".   He had withered like grass and now faced eternity.

When we are in the will of God and submit to God's plans, we can trust our desires.  Our assignment is found at the intersection of God's plan and ours.  What do you live to do?  What brings you joy?  What gives you a sense of satisfaction?  I believe we are wired at conception to serve God, in some unique way, and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control  are attached to our fulfilling His preordained commission.

Paul clarified that point when he taught, "He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ" (Eph 4:11-12).  Now, before moving on, notice Paul does not mention that God designed anyone to be ‘as grass that withers away’ and has no Godly purpose in life.

There is no caste system in God's Kingdom, as there is in India where the Dalet people are confined to the dumps because, in the eyes of the more elite, they have no purpose and do not exist.

As a matter of fact Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians wrote, “Now there are a varieties of gifts, but the same God who works all things in all persons.  But to each one given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good, one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, another the word of knowledge; to another faith, and another the gift of healing, another effecting miracles, another the gift of prophecy and another interpretation of prophecy, to another the distinguishing of spirits and to another various kinds of tongues and to another interpretation of tongues.”  

Question, do the desires of your heart come from God, or do they just pop into your head to fill the space?  Are they critical messages from the Throne Room of heaven, indicating  that He has a specific purpose for your life? And, if you fail to fulfill his mandate, you are, As Frank Constantino, a convicted criminal who found the Lord in a Georgia prison and latter became a missionary to the prison population said, "We will leave holes in time”.

Soooo, my good friends, one does not have to be a rocket- scientist see the hand writing on the wall. The Dooms Day Clock is rapidly approaching the zero hour.  If you have never been a seed planter, it is time to plant a seed of God’s love in someone this day.  A simple "good morning" may open the door to sharing the wonderful news that Jesus Christ is alive and seeking to take them by the hand and lead them through this wilderness.  Jesus said the harvest is ripe and the workers few.  Be a worker today.

Blessings,  

Gramps           


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