"Call to me and I will answer you, and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know. " Jeremiah 33:3

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

"That is why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God." Romans 8:8

Currently I am journaling; My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers this is the third time I have done so with my accountability partner. It is a daily devotional that is my personal favorite. What caught my eye in today's devotional was the following sentence; We slander God by our very eagerness to work for Him without knowing Him. How true, for it is infinitely easier to work for Him than to take the time required in His word to get to know Him.

Two individuals come to my mind as examples and the first one is Moses. Moses; born a Hebrew, raised an Egyptian in the court of Pharaoh. He had a zeal for God, so when he came upon an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave he killed him. Moses' misspent zeal for God resulted in Moses being exiled from Egypt to the land of Midian. For the next 40 years (see Acts 7:30) Moses herded sheep in the wilderness, just think, 40 years, with nothing but the bleating of sheep in your ears! That's a long time but the required time in God's eyes to change mighty Moses into a humble nobody that God could then use, as He had planned from the creation of the world. For one day Moses came to Horeb, the mountain of God and there he saw a burning bush that was not consumed. Then Moses heard the call of God coming from the bush, God called him by name, "Moses, Moses!" and God introduced Himself to His humble servant and Moses hid his face for he was afraid to look. You know the rest of the story, Moses returned to Egypt and God delivered His people and brought them out of the land of Egypt with God's prophet, friend of God, Moses leading.

The next man is David, shepherd by trade, chosen by God, anointed by Samuel to be king over Israel. God said of David, "he is a man after My own heart." Clearly God was with David yet through circumstances controlled and directed by God Himself David has to run for his life, literally, from King Saul who sought to kill him. David hid himself in the country of Israel's enemy the Philistines , he lived in caves where he was surrounded by misfits that later became Davids mighty men. The man who would be king was living like an escaped criminal for though he loved God and knew God he was not yet ready to be King. God was at work in this shepherd boy and in the tests and trials of this time God was at work building and developing David into the man he was yet to be. On two different occasions David could easily have killed Saul and his own men encouraged him to do so yet David would not; he feared touching the Lords anointed, and he believed God that one day he would sit on the throne but not by his hand but by the Lords! David learned during that time of testing and trials to depend totally on the Lord alone!

Moses and David shared great trials, frequent testing and prolonged exile so that they could become what God had prepared for them all along.

Faith that is never tested is not true faith. Knowing the Lord, requires that we experience; His greatness, His provision, His mighty arm to save, His faithfulness, His power and in so doing we too can be humbled and grow in the wisdom and knowledge of Jesus Christ and fulfill His purpose for our lives.

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