If You Do, part 5

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

As part of an early morning bible study, we've been using individually favorite scriptures for more in depth study.  One favorite was from Habakkuk 2:2-3: ^"And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, That he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, But at the end it shall speak, and not lie: Though it tarry, wait for it;  Because it will surely come, it will not tarry." KJV

The response follows a very familiar line of questioning God and complaining by Habakkuk.  Why God why? When God when? How come God? When are you going to get them God? What are you going to do about this terrible situation? God, please help me understand. What's going on God?  What's up with this? Okay God, it's your time, the balls in your court. Where are you God? All familiar questions, yes?

God's answer to us in many of our situations and circumstances remains the same -- write the vision. My child, my son, my daughter, write down the vision I have given you.  What have I placed on your heart and in your mind to do?  Remember, nothing is impossible with me (see Luke 1:37).  With me, the sky is the limit.  What dream have I given you?  There are no limitations on your dreams, so don't set any.  Remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (see Philippians 4:13).

The vision is in the future, it is forward moving, it is ahead of you.  You can't see it in the natural because it  is for an appointed time in the future.  As God instructs, it may tarry but you wait for it.  What happens while you wait?  You do everything possible in the natural in preparation.  Develop the plan to achieve the vision. Write it down, make it plain.  Never made a written plan before, never developed a written budget, never thought 2-3-5-10 years ahead before.  If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

If You Do, part 4

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

What do you expect from God?  The last time you asked God for healing, how was your prayer answered?  Did you ask someone to pray for you and then your healing manifested?  Now you're sick again, do you go back to the same person for prayer and then get no result?  So what do you do?  Unemployed, been unemployed before, prayed for a week or so, then a new job came. Unemployed again, prayed for a week or so, still unemployed.  Months later, still unemployed.  What do you do now?  Something different? What?  Remember -- if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

Now you are facing the most difficult challenge you've ever experienced.  You may be thinking that even to God, this presents a real challenge.  Doctor's report bleak ... unemployment checks stopped ... your dream house in foreclosure ... got to sit through another trial of the one that killed your son ... 16 year old daughter pregnant a second time ... relative been missing for 30 days.  Is any of this too hard for God?  I know God has done the impossible in the Bible stories.  I’ve even heard of miracles He has performed for others. Can I expect God to do the same for me?

Consider 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 where Paul reminds us that for 40 years in the wilderness, God provided manna (spiritual food) and water (spiritual drink) for the Israelites. The Word says they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed  them: and that Rock was Christ.  Tell yourself that God provided water in the wilderness desert from a Rock that followed them for 40 years.  Do you know and serve the same God that did the impossible for them?  Will He do the impossible for you? Will He make a way out of no way for you? Will He provide rivers of water in your wilderness experience?  Will He make streams in the desert for you? Yes!!! 

Can you keep doing what you've always done and expect a different result? No!!!  If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

 

If You Do ... part 3

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. One of the Proverbs tells us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (see Proverbs 23:7).  Ummh, so what are you thinking?  What are your thoughts?  Did you know that only good thoughts can produce good fruit, and only bad thoughts can produce bad fruit?  Old maxim -- a tree is known by the fruit it bears.  Your every thought is reflected through the words that you speak and the actions you take.  Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. Scripture commands that we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5).  Does God really mean every one of our thoughts? 

Yes he does! He also tells us what kind of thoughts to think.  See Philippians 4:8.  "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." 

Concerning your thoughts, ask yourself -- is this thought true? Is it noble and honest and honorable? Is it right and just? Is it pure?  Is it lovely? Is it admirable or of a good report?  Is it excellent or praiseworthy? What would the disciple Ananias have been thinking as the Lord told him in a vision to go lay his hands on Saul who at the time had been a great persecutor of the Christians? What would Saul have been thinking as the Lord let him know how much he would suffer for His name?  What would the young virgin Mary have been thinking when the angel Gabriel told her that she would give birth to a child? If you were in either of those shoes, what would your thoughts have been?  Would your thoughts line up with the Word of God?

Remember: If you do [think] what you've always done [thought], you'll get what you've always gotten.

If You Do ... part 2

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. What are you believing God for, right now? The desire of your heart? Your greatest need? Your inmost longing? I believe that God's response back to us may be -- so, what are you willing to do differently?  What are you willing to do that you've never done before?

In need of healing?  Are you believing the promise of Proverbs 4:22 --  "for they [the Word] are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body."  This is an amazing promise that we all should believe and expect and accept as our own.  Why is it that many of us may repeat this promise ... we may read it ... we may meditate on it ... we may claim it as our own?  Yet, the health issue, the disease, the sickness, the infirmity doesn't change for the better.  The change we experience is for the worst. What are we missing?  We keep reminding God of His great and precious promise.  Yet, nothing changes.  Why?

In the Word, the Holy Scriptures, God has made many promises to you.  You've claimed this one, but its not manifesting. Remember, if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  Ummmh, maybe you should look at the verse within the context of the immediately surrounding verses.  Where does the thought begin and where does it end?  Consider the passage of Proverbs 4:20-23.  It looks like there are not one, not two, not three, but four conditions that you must meet if you are to receive this great and precious promise.  You've got to do something more than lay claim to the promise.  You must meet the conditions.  What are they? Read verses 20 and 21 where the conditions are to 1) pay attention to the Word, 2) listen closely to the Word, 3) don't let the Word out of your sight, and 4) keep the Word within your heart. Read verse 23 where the fourth condition regarding your heart is emphasized.

If you want a different result, you must take different actions ... think different thoughts ... speak different words.  If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

If You Do ...

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten -- a long used expression, thought provoking, attention getting.  What are you getting in your life?  Out of life? Are you satisfied?  Are you getting what you want?  Are you healthy? Are you prospering? Do you have enough? More than enough? Less than enough? Are you enjoying life? Is your work rewarding? Is it satisfying? Is it meaningful? Do you have a good marriage? Are your children doing well? Overall, on a scale of 1-10, 10 high, how would you rate your life?

To all whose rating was less than 10, something's missing.  If something is missing, then something needs to change.  Are you ready and willing to make the changes necessary to obtain a different result? Remember -- if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.  It has been said that stupidity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result.

So what does God say?  I'm glad you asked. Consider Colossians 3:23-24.  Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  "Whatever" means what? "With all your heart" means what? Must you do everything as unto the Lord? Umm ... so stop doing what you've always done ... you'll stop getting what you've always gotten.

Live Well, Live Wisely

Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. 

James 3:13-18 MSG

 

How Great Thou Art, part 2

When does life begin? Is it before the sperm and egg come together? Is it at conception?  Is it hours after conception, or days, or weeks, or some time during the first trimester? So what did God mean when He said to Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed him in the womb (see Jeremiah 1:5)? To what was the writer referring in Psalm 139:15-16a?  "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body."  

So, when does life begin? The questions came to mind again as I recently stood before an incubator in a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.  The little girl was taken from her mother's womb at a mere 25 weeks (6 months).  This was my first time to see a preemie at this young age.  My naked eye saw very clearly a baby ... just very tiny, weighed in at just over one pound ... hair on her head ... fully formed arms, hands, fingers w/nails ... fully formed legs, feet, toes w/nails ... very active arms and hands, legs and feet ... used hands to take hold of connectors to her body ... stretched out her legs, sometimes moved them from side to side, sometimes up and down.

Not knowing what to expect, I stood there in awe and amazement. And I could only think, my God, how great Thou art.  How amazing are you, God.  How could anyone ever believe that man is a product of evolution? The process of birth, how miraculous?  Our minds are incapable of understanding how this development unfolds.  So we merely just take this development for granted.  We assume that life just happens. And it doesn't, it can't.  Who then is this Master Creator? Master Designer? Life Giver? Sustainer of Life? And my thought remained the same, O Lord my God, how great Thou art!!!