Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert

January 26, 2015
Isaiah 46:10  "Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish."

Recently, there was a long awaited sporting event attended by over a hundred thousand people and watched world-wide by millions.  It was a game I had been wanting to see for quite some time, but unfortunately I was needed at work.  I was unable to see it live.  Within minutes of the game's end, the final score was all over social media and many of my friends were having post game discussions.  It was inevitable that I learned the final score before I was able to watch the recorded version of the game.  I knew the outcome of the game, yet I wanted to see it anyway.  The whole while I was watching the previously recorded game, I could see the intensity on both sides of the line, each player wondering if their team would best the other.  As one team advanced, the other would work harder and change the score again.  I knew the final score, aware during each play whose dreams were going to be realized.  Several times during the game the tides would turn with angst intensifying the playing on the field.  Again, I knew the final outcome, so I was not stressed or worried for my team.  Even though they feared a loss, I still knew the final score.  I wasn't worried that they would win; there was no suspense for me.  I just watched as the players finally realized what I knew all along.  I actually found it silly to see the wonder and amazement on each face as the game came to a close.  Didn't they already know the final score, too?  There was no surprise in it for me; I knew the end at the beginning.

Sometimes you want things to be a surprise, like when you are watching a movie with a really good plot line or awaiting to open a present.  Those, pretty much, seem to be the only times we don't want the surprise spoiled.  In everything else, we want to know what's going to happen, in an effort to feel in control of our lives.  It's funny, though, we aren't told all the little details; they get to be a surprise.  As life unfolds, I find myself like the players on the field, fearing a loss and going through life with a huge degree of intensity, wondering if I am going to come out on top in every situation.  I bet the Lord sits back, with zero suspense in His heart, thinking it silly when I fear the outcome of a situation.  He knows the end at the beginning; He knows how everything unfolds, yet He still sees the angst on my face during the game.  He knows the final score; He knows the result of each play on the field before it even happens.  But He can see me running around, constantly wondering, fearing the outcome of my situations.

The Bible says very clearly that we aren't supposed to be afraid.  It is a theme woven all throughout the Lord's teaching.  He knows the end from the beginning; He knows how it will all play out.  It is with confidence in the outcome that He tells us not to be afraid.  But do we listen?  Nope!  The Lord has set His plans in motion and that includes the plans for your life and mine as they are intertwined into His Divine Design.  He knows the outcome of the situation you are dealing with, the one you are struggling to overcome.  He would have a few words for you today.  Relax and stop living in fear of the outcome.  The outcome has already happened; you simply get to come in to the realization of what the Father already knows.

Living in fear is a waste of energy.  Do your best and let the outcome happen as it is already written by the Lord.  Your life has been pre-recorded and the Lord is watching it, knowing full well the outcome.  He has seen the end, and guess what, you win!

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Ps 33:11, Pr 19:21, Is 14:24, Is 41:4, Is 48:3, Acts 5:39, Acts 15:18

Divine Discontent

Divine Discontent
January 19, 2015
Genesis 1:27  "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them. . ."

The Creator Father, for His own personal glory, discontented with the way things were, decided to create.  How long was He alone in Heaven, maybe just the Trinity up there, playing board games together, discussing whatever it is divine beings discuss?  They couldn't talk about you and me; we weren't born yet.  Maybe we were the twinkle in His eye.  Nonetheless, He was dissatisfied with the status quo, possibly board from simply basking in the radiance of Heaven, and so the Father decided to create.  In the beginning the Lord God Almighty got creative and crafted us, perfectly in His own image, and He said that it was good.  The impetus for this  activity, the muse for this messy humanity, one will never know, but the Lord couldn't sit back any longer.  He was spurred to action.

The result of that creation was you and me.  We were created in His image.  Looking at the faces of those around me, seldom can I distinguish our resemblance to Him.  But the Bible says so, so we will submit to it.  You were made in the image of God, with all the same innate qualities of the Lord God Himself.  This carries with it the desire for good, the opportunity for jealousy, the compassion coming from nowhere, and mercy when mercy doesn't make sense.  It also carries with it a degree of divine discontent followed by the need to create, improve, forge, assemble, refine, and build.  It is an internal drive that spurs us to action, resulting in restless motivation to do something.  It isn't a sit-back-and-complain attitude, but a precursor to doing what the Lord would have for us to do in life.

You have a fire burning in your belly for something other than the status quo.  For each man it is a different fire, but a unique burden to move forward with something new, like the Father in Heaven did during Creation.  You cannot live up to your full calling in life unless you submit to moving forward with that drive to create, the compelling need to do something more, something better, something different.  This isn't creating a new religion, but furthering the Kingdom of God through the gifts and talents the Lord instilled inside of you.  It is a divine discontent with where you are, leading to a new work in alignment with the Lord's divine tenets.  It doesn't have to be in vocational ministry necessarily, but right where the Lord has placed you, in whatever field you're in.  The opportunity is as unique as you.

As you create, you are further creating in the image of the Lord.  You are like your Heavenly Father when you create, when you improve, when you forge, when you assemble, when you refine, and when you build.  It is in your blood; you were made for this.  If you've been sitting on the side and feeling discontent, then maybe it is a divine discontent, spurring you to action, a call to arms.  You can ignore it, squelch it, stuff it down, but it will always be there, urging you to get up and move.  While you may feel insecure about it, wondering if you've got what it takes, it is up to the Lord to lead you to success.  He only needs a willing vessel who will follow in His footsteps and who will follow His lead.  Listen to His leading; do what the Lord has placed in you to do and you will look more like the Heavenly Father for it.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Gen 1, Is 43:18, Rom 8:28, Phil 2:13

Complaining Rights

Complaining Rights
January 12, 2015
Jonah 4:9  "But God said to Jonah, 'Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?'"

Complaining is so easily observed in others, but not so easily seen in ourselves.  We notice, without hesitation, when someone around us is stating his or her dissatisfaction with the current situation.  The person who complains constantly is labeled as being negative, a downer.  I know some of those people and I'm sure I've been labeled as such, at one point in my life.  I would bet each of us has gone through a season of constant complaints.  Once we start complaining, it is hard to jump out of that downward spiral, but it happens; we all complain.  While we know it isn't the best thing to do in life, is it a sin to complain?

The Bible is very clear that we SHOULD do everything without complaining or grumbling.  If you review every book of the Bible, though, you'll witness complaining going on, a grumbling dissatisfied recipient of The Father's love.  That's the correct label if you'd like to get technical about it.  We've all received the Lord's love and when we complain we are simply being a dissatisfied and grumbling recipient of that love.  Since the beginning of time with Cain and Able, man has been complaining.  Moses complained, the Israelites complained, King David complained, the apostles complained.  If everyone's doing it, is it still wrong; is it a sin?  Actually, if you read the account of Job, the Bible says he complained, stated his dissatisfaction with the situation, but did not sin.  So, there is an opportunity to express dissatisfaction without sinning, but there is also a line that shouldn't be crossed.  It was said of Job that he never sinned by charging the Lord with wrongdoing.

The prophet Jonah complained; he expressed dissatisfaction with the situation when his personal shade tree had withered up.  Jonah got hot in the summer sun and couldn't take the heat any longer.  He got angry and complained about it.  The Lord asked him if he had any right at all to complain to the point of anger.  Jonah told the Lord, unequivocally, "Yes!"  The Lord had caused the shade tree to grow up over Jonah and the Lord provided the worm to eat the roots of the shade tree, yet Jonah still believed he had a right to his complaint.  Not even Job, who was upright and blameless, got away with his complaint.  The Lord told Job he had no idea what the Lord was thinking, therefore didn't have a leg to stand on about his complaint with the situation.  Job wasn't as bold to talk back to God as Jonah was.  But you and I are more like Jonah; we are willing to talk back to God about our situation, believing we have every right to complain to the point of being angry.  The Lord would disagree.

Your complaint in life, and I'm sure you have one or two, is an effort to believe the Lord is not doing His job with correctness, fairness, or justice.  When you cross the line and actually get angry with Him, like Jonah, you are sinning.  I've clearly sinned once or twice in my life and you probably have, too.  The trick is to figure out a way to express your dissatisfaction only to the point of realizing how silly you are to actually complain.  When Job complained, the Lord corrected Him.  You and I can read from others in Scripture and realize our situation is really not cause for complaint if we trust in the Lord's sovereignty.  The Lord is in charge of your life and to charge Him with wrongdoing for how things have turned out in your life is not something I'd recommend.  Turning our complaint into praise is the next step.  We can all praise the Lord for something good in our lives.  Jonah didn't thank the Lord for growing the shade tree; he took it for granted.  Job didn't constantly thank the Lord for all those years of blessing; he figured it would always be that way.  Learn to praise the Lord when times are good, so when they're bad, you can still praise Him for when the times WERE good.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Job 1:22, Job 2:10, Job 33, Jonah 4, Phil 2:14