God is in Control

We can also look at Joseph’s life. God planned to bring the famine that made Joseph’s presence in Egypt so necessary, and the conviction that God tested Joseph with severe trials. Read Psalm 105:16-19.

16 He called down famine on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;

17 and he sent a man before them
Joseph, sold as a slave.

18 They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,

19 till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the LORD proved him true.

I often wonder how Job, Paul, Joseph and other'othersit through their lives and the trials God set before them. Did they ask, what did I do to deserve this or did they know who was in control all along?

Sometimes God is going to heal us physically and sometimes He is not....or at least in the terms we understand. We have to look way beyond our understanding and into God's Word and Character. Many times we think it is due to sin that we endure suffering or pain...but what about the blind man in John 9 -

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

I encourage everyone to read John 9.

When Peter was told he was going to suffer great things and how he was going to die, he turned to another Jesus loved and said, but what about him, and Jesus said, what if he lives until I return? What is that to you? Jesus LOVED Peter.

I heard a Pastor say the other day, the day I become worried about my life, wealth and health, become worried about my walk with Christ. My life should be about Him and what He is doing. And I, believe if when we do that we truly live a peaceful abundand life.

Two Scriptures to seek God about...

2 Sam 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, "Go and take a census of Israel and Judah."

1 Chron 21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

My prayer is that we truly seek God and who He is. Understand that He is in control of it all.

Tammy

God is in control of All Things Part 2

Does God design suffering for His children? I ask you to seek His Face and His Word on this question. Would suffering be God’s design? Does God oversee and manage the affairs of the world so that we can speak of suffering as His will and his design, or does He, rather, manage the world like a chess player who does not will the moves of his opponent, but can always check them and turn them for good? Does God plan the place of suffering in the lives of His children for good ends, or is He always in the position of a responder to the pain that other forces give him to work with? God governs the world and all that happens in it with purpose and design for the good of those who love him. This was the final lesson Job learned from all his suffering. Even if we cannot understand it all. In Job, the text states, satan may play his wicked role in the drama and take Job’s children and strike him with boils from head to toe, but Job will not give satan the eminence of ultimate casualty. That belongs to God alone. When Job’s ten children were crushed to death, he fell upon the ground and worshiworshiped; Job’s response to this “shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10 (From the book-“the Hidden Smile of God)

Genesis 50:20 you meant for evil but God meant it for good…

God is in control of all things. Scripture truly shows us this over and over and over. And when I "finally" realized that I finally found true peace. My husband told me the other day, I have finally seen peace come over you. He has given you peace. Yes He has.

When we get caught up in ourselves and take our eyes off Him we lose sight of His purpose in our lives. I don't want to miss out on all that He is doing through this trial. What a shame it would be! So as it says in Ephesians 11

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

My prayer is that we take the focus off ourselves and put our focus on Him.

Tammy

God is in control of All Things

When I found out I had cancer, my immediate question was, what did I do to cause this to happen? What can I do to fix it? Is there a right prayer? The list goes on. One day while praying the Lord told me, "do not make you more important than what I've already done." Now I don't know what all that means but the number one thing it did tell me was this, it is always about what He is doing. Always.

When a trial comes along, we do have a choice or choices to make. We can choose to get caught up in the trial and ourselves or we can ask God, what are You doing and please use me.

God is in control of all things.

Coming to understand everything is about God and His purpose in our lives made a huge difference in my life. Until we fully understand that He is in control of it all...everything...including suffering, we may lose sight of what He is doing.

Acts 17:24-26 24"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.

No matter how much faith we have, or say the "right" prayer with the "right" heart, we are all going to leave this earth.

My prayer is that we seek God in all things. I pray that we get our eyes off ourselves and our situations and look up to Him and ask Him, what are You doing Lord and use me.

Tammy

Godless Judgment (Max Lucado-In the Grip of Grace) Part 3

Be careful! The Peter who denies Jesus at tonight's fire may proclaim him with fire at tomorrow's Pentecost. The Samson who is blind and weak today may use his final strength to level the pillars of godlessness. A stammering shepherd in this generation may be the might Moses next door. Don't call Noah a fool, you may be asking him for a lift. "Do not judge before the right time, wait until the Lord comes. (1 Cor 4:5)

A condemned criminal was sent to his death by his country. In his final moments, he asked for mercy. Had he asked for mercy form the people, it would have been denied. Had he asked for it of the government, it would have been declined. Had he asked it of his victims, they would have turned a deaf ear. But it wasn't to these he turned for grace. He turned instead to the bloodied form of the One who hung on the cross next to his and pleaded, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." And Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43).

As far as we know Dahmer did the same thing. And as far as we know, Dahmer got the same response. And when you think about it, the request Dahmer made is no different than yours and mine. He may make it from a prison bunk and you may make it from a church pew, but from heaven's angle we're all asking for the moon.

And by heaven's grace we all receive it.

Amen!

Max and Tammy

Godless Judgment: (By: Max Lucado- In the Grip of Grace) Part 2

Romans 2:1
1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2Now we know that God's judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgment? 4Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

Who is this person? It could be anyone who filters God's grace through his own opinion. Anyone who dilutes God's mercy with his own prejudice. He is the prodigal son's elder brother who wouldn't attend the party. (Luke 15:11-32) He is the ten-hour worker, upset because the one-hour worker got he same wage. (Matthew 20:1-16) He is the fault finding brother obsessed with his brother's sin and oblivious to his own.

If you think you can judge others, Paul has a stern reminder for you. It's not your job to hold the gavel.

The key word here is judges. It is one thing to have an opinion. It's quite another to pass verdict. It is one thing to have a conviction but yet another to convict the person. It is one thing to be repulsed by Dahmer(and I am). It is another entirely to claim that I am superior (I'm not) or that he is beyond the grace of God.

It is our job to hate sin. God has called us to despise evil but never to despise the evildoer.

Standing next to Dahmer and Hitler's of the world, we boast, "look God, compared to them, I'm not too bad. But that is the problem. God doesn't compare us to them. They aren't the standard of God. And compared to him, Paul will argue, "there is no one who does anything good" (Romans 3:12) In fact, that is one of the two reasons why God is the One who judges.

God said, "you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect". (Matt 5:48) None of us can meet God's standard. As a result, none of us deserves to don the robe and stand behind the bench and judge others. Why? We aren't good enough. As long as we look at the sins of others, then we don't have to be honest about our own.

Not only are we unworthy but unqualified. We "never" know enough about the person to judge him. We don't know enough about his past. Only One who has followed yesterday's steps can be their judge. Not only are we ignorant about yesterday, we are ignorant about tomorrow. Dare we judge a book while chapter's are yet unwritten? Should we pass a verdict on a painting while the artist still holds the brush? How can we dismiss a soul until God's work is complete?

"God began a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again. (Phil 1:6)

My prayer is that we realize our own need for God's saving Grace, Love and Mercy and also realize it for our neighbors... Our brothers and sister's in Christ.

Max and Tammy