It's a beautiful place. From way up there, it's like everything is put in its place.
The most beautiful thing about my town is that there's a big timber cross at the lookout on the side of the mountain....
I had a good look at it this morning and I realised that if you follow a straight line from the way the cross is facing, it goes directly to the City Council building that is in the main street.
I dont believe that's by accident. I got goosebumps, because it was such a powerful symbol of how Jesus is King over my town. He's King over the leaders of my city, and over the leaders of my country. He's right there, over everything. Tamworth belongs to Jesus!
So, on to my bible study. Today I looked at Proverbs 8:32-36 which says the following:
"Hear instruction and be wise,
And do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me,
Watching daily at my gates,
Waiting at the posts of my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life,
And obtains favor from the Lord; But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul;
All those who hate me love death.” (NKJV)
I got a few things out of this verse.
1. First of all, instructions make us wise. As much as it sometimes hurts the ego to be corrected and instructed how to better go through life, we have to acknowledge that it is possible, in fact it's probable, that someone might know better than we do. We cannot be the expert on every topic. In fact the majority of topics!! I cannot say I know much about anything, and I'm certainly not an expert on pretty much anything in this world. This doesn't just apply to listening to other people either, it also applies to listening to what God has to say. The person centred, egocentric "me" approach of this world would have us believe that we're the experts on our own lives. But really, the only expert on me and my life is God. The bible says that God knows every hair on my head - and that means that He is the only one worthy to be called an expert on my life.
2. We should listen to God. Listening involves not talking. It's so easy sometimes to fall into the trap of using Jesus like a "genie" in a bottle - just putting in our requests and expecting God to give us everything we want. How much of our prayer time is spent talking? How much of it is spent being still, quiet, intent, and LISTENING. I know when I read this I immediately fell quiet and waited for God to speak. And sometimes you have to wait for a while before God answers. The point is you have to be aware and quiet in order to listen.
3. We have to watch out for what God wants to do. And God doesn't always do things in the way we expect him to. In order for us to discern when God is moving we have to be watching out for Him from all angles. This part of the verse also talks about GATES not just one gate. God has many ways of answering prayer and moving for His glory, and you can bet its often not in the way you expect it!
4. We have to wait for God to move. This is almost always one of the hardest parts - it's so difficult to not move on something prematurely just because its what WE want or its because its what we think we need. God's timing is NOT our timing, and it's really important that as Christians we ask Jesus to make us sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. If God isn't telling us to move, we shouldn't be moving!
5. God works in black and white - you're either in or you're out. In a world full of greys (some would say fifty or more shades of grey!) God doesn't operate that way. The bible is very clear - if love God, you hate death. If you hate God, you love death. God hates luke-warm - you gotta be all in, or you'll be all out!
So out of these revelations I listed the following actions:
- When someone gives me instruction, I won't be offended. I will take the instruction and learn what I can out of it.
- I will incorporate into my prayer time a substantial amount of time for just being still and listening to God. Deliberately giving time to God to hear what He has to say.
- I will pray to God for sensitivity to be able to see when and where He is moving - in doing so I will claim for myself peace in every situation because I'll know that whatever happens God is in control.
- I won't move until God tells me to move. It's all about less of me and more of Him
- I prayed today that God would increase my excitement for him - the excitement I had when I gave my life to Him. Walking with Jesus is an adventure, and you're either all in or all out. There's no room for mediocrity when it comes to witnessing for Jesus and the excitement of my life.
If you've made it this far you're a verry dedicated reader - I hope these thoughts have blessed you! Have a great week! :)
Til next time!
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