In His Word 6-28-10

You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. Psalm 32:7
(And God’s answer was)

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, Else they will not come near you. Psalm 32:8-9
For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide Even to death. Psalm 48:14
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." John 16:12-14
So many people today want to try to do things their own way. They want to go about making God do this and making God do that. I think they have it wrong! I read in my Word of God that He wants to guide us. He wants to teach us of His ways and direct our paths and He wants us to trust Him to do so.

Still, many Christians today will try to fit God into the box they want Him to be in. They think God will only do this or God won’t do that unless we remind Him He said that He would. My God is not like that. He wants to direct my path. He wants to guide my steps and He wants to show me where to go and what to do.

What ever happened to just sitting and basking in His presence, enjoying being with God and hearing His voice in our hearts and minds? Reading His Words and then waiting for Him to make it work in our lives is what I long for. I want to be there just enjoying Him. Knowing that my next step is ordered of the Lord and that He will direct my path helps me to trust Him. I can sit and worry about what tomorrow will bring. I can try to get to tomorrow's worries today. Or I can trust my God to show me the way to go to get there…tomorrow.

I get tired of hearing people complain about the way this teacher or that teacher does things. The Word of God tells us there will be false teachers in the last days and we have to be cautious of whom we listen to. But that does not mean we need to start puling splinters out of our brother's eye to avoid the beam in our own. We tell others to follow what the Word says, then decide for ourselves what the next step is without consulting the Lord first. Are we not as bad as the preachers who go around saying, "If you are not rich you are not saved?" If your life is not perfect and you have to struggle does it affect your Christian walk?

It should actually, because adversity builds character and God is building you! None of us has made it unless you are already sitting in the throne room worshiping Him. I am not; I am living life. I have a long way to go before I am in His presence and I want to do as much for His kingdom as I can in the meantime. But what does He want of me?

Show me your ways Oh Lord, teach me your paths. Psalm 25:4
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the HolySpirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:12
God gave us the Holy Spirit to be able to discern the Word of God, the presence of God and the direction He has given us to follow. Our job is to trust Him, and to allow Him to guide our steps and rejoice in the fact that He is with us as we walk across the stepping stones of life.

When you walk on the stepping stones at the kiddy zoo at Knowland Park, you find them at different levels and sizes. Sometimes there is water under you and sometimes it is dry. That is how life is. Sometimes we walk in areas that if we step off or don’t judge the height and breadth of our next step, we will fall off and get wet. Other times we can waltz right through without thinking too much, knowing that God is in control. Let’s make that our focus for this week. Let's give God the controls and let Him direct our summer plans.

Dear Heavenly Father, help us to achieve what You have planned for us this summer. Thank you for showing us the way and guiding us each day. Call to us each morning and walk with us each day. In Jesus' name, amen.

Suggested reading: Psalm 31:1-24; Psalm 32:1-11; Psalm 33: 1-22; Psalm 34: 1-22; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16.