Month: July 2021

Scriptural Readings: Luke 18:22-24; I Samuel 16:7; James 1:5

Are we still struggling to know between God’s will and what we want? Why are we confused and uncertain about this matter? A question perhaps most Christians have. If the answer is yes, then we need a lot of things to seek from God. We have lost the precious time given just for Him, and we have to make up for it as soon as possible and fast. 

Luke 18:22-24

King James Version

v.22  Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

v.23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich.

v.24  And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

New Living translation

v.22 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

v.23 But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich.

v.24  When Jesus saw this, he said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Want

Thinking ahead is saying to God I know what to do, and if something goes wrong, this is the time we ask Him for help. Isn’t an old habit? We might know this or not, but we are trying to persevere and justify our wants rather than God’s will for us, and this is what exactly we want. The attitude of my will is foremost than God’s will. Most of our wants would likely be ending up in worldly pleasures. That is why we must be sure what is God’s will and not ours. For the love of money is the root of all evil (I timothy 6:10).

God does not hate rich people. God warns rich people. God gives us riches in life for one reason, and that is for His disposal. Once our love for God is transferred to the material things, this is where troubles come in. For sure, this will slow down, or otherwise, stunted spiritual growth. We have to get rid of this thing. We came nothing in this world, and when we die, we will leave everything in this world. 

It will all start within our minds, making decisions. God supplies everything, the things we lack, maintain the things we have or increase because God has something for us to do, and sometimes we have many things we do not need and are not happy with them. We have the choice of having a little of something, or perhaps, enough of anything, and maybe, so much of everything because of our free will. Remember, there are only 2 options: either we choose the right thing or the wrong thing. To glorify God is the right thing, and to continue with our ways is wrong.

I Samuel 16:7

King James Version

v.7  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth;4 for man looketh4 on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

New Living translation

v.7  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Will

God sees us from top to bottom and from the inside out. He perceives exactly the things to do with all our concerns. The first thing to do is to ask Him what things we need and what we don’t. We always ask amiss. We must not worry. Remember that God supplies all our needs through Jesus Christ. However, it does not mean what we want now will not be needed in the future. God will always tell us what we need and what we must do precisely and in order. His will for us is always divine. This is His will and should be done.

James 1:5

King James Version

v.5  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

New Living translation

v.5  If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 

Wisdom

Still, having difficulties with will and want? We need God’s wisdom. God’s wisdom ends our confusion. His wisdom connects His will into ours, completely changing our wants into His will ending our selfishness and ungodly desires resulting in the satisfaction we need and God’s glorification. For most of us, we spend more time with human ways and endeavor to make things better for us. We seek wisdom in books written by human authors giving us limited results. God’s wisdom is infinite. And we can have it only by approaching the throne of grace. Once we start putting our trust and faith in God through Jesus Christ, wisdom becomes a part f our lives.

Yes, there will be difficulties, but in the end, we will have a divine answer. The important thing is that we have seen the difference between our want and God’s will. All the hidden lies within our wants are exposed. We can eliminate one by one the things that are not needed, no more confusion, only confirmation, revealing what is right and true, God’s will! It can never be a lost cause. 

We have to bear in mind that our God is not the author of confusion. Jesus Christ is the truth. We have to trust what He did in Calvary. This is the only way we would know the truth. The more that we trust Jesus, the more He will reveal the truth and God’s will. There is no other option in finding God’s will but to believe in the power of the cross and the Holy Spirit.

Scriptural Readings:  Matthew 13 24-30, Jeremiah 29:11, Galatians 6:9

How do we see and gauge our patience? Are we struggling with it? If yes, then perhaps, one of the reasons is we are not giving ourselves more chances or time to build more. And if we have no chance, what is next? More struggles. That is for sure. Patience is only one of the many things we need to have a lot in our spiritual lives. We still have kindness, and the list goes on. We are looking forward to developing these things in us, but we feel that the chance of having more time is just another thing that we need to work on.

Because of our imperfection and self-centeredness, we must learn how to deal with patience and impatience. The divine essence has become a mystery for us because we do not have the patience to accept our Father’s messages, or sometimes, we miss it deliberately.

If we look carefully between patience and impatience, these two things should be dealt with separately. They are opposites, and this is why we have to go deeper into comprehending each of them. Most of us would like to have perfect patience, and at the same time, to get rid of impatience in an instant. We can never have patience if we continue having an attitude of impatience. And if impatience rules, then patience becomes history. Remember, we cannot serve 2 masters at the same time. Either we are going to hate the other, or we will love the other. 

Matthew 13 24-30, 

King James Version

V.24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:

V.25  But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

V.26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

V.27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

V.28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

V.29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

V.30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

New Living Translation

V.24 Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. 

V.25 But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. 

V.26 When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

V.27 “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?

V.28  “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed. “‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

V.29 “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do.

V.30  Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

Just like the wheat and the tares, patience represents the wheat, and the tares represent impatience. Both are present in our lives, and one might outgrow the other, and unless we get rid of what hinders our spiritual growth, we will never grow spiritually. We simply have to give ourselves chance to work on our patience. Uncertainties are not strange and new to us. What we do not know is to deal patiently with these issues. So, we must give time to work on our patience, and God would do His part. After all, I Corinthians chapter thirteen starts with love is patience. There is no way that God will not grant us the patience that we need more. Love is patience, and love is God.

The question now is, how do we know how to deal with these two first? Which is the best time for us to be patient and not fall into impatience? For instance, we must have patience in waiting for the stop signal to go green. We know that it will turn sooner or later, otherwise, we become impatient by beating the red light. In a situation wherein we are eagerly waiting for a result, most of the time, we are practicing impatience. In this scenario, patience is behind impatience. We speculate and talk a lot about the outcome, a sign of impatience. We very seldom keep quiet and patiently wait for the results. We wait patiently for fruit to ripen, but because of our impatience, assuming it is already ripe, we pick them only to find out it is sour. We know we have patience, but, most of the time, impatience dictates.

Jeremiah 29:11

King James Version

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

New Living Translation

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

One of the many situations that we must practice patience is when we reach the point of hopelessness. This is the best time to be silent in the presence of God and wait patiently for definite answers. We should not give impatience space. Why? Because we know that God answers prayers! We just have to wait patiently and not impatiently. This is where our faith works against impatience. Our faith in Jesus Christ overpowers our weakest emotions. We have to defeat the evils of impatience by patiently waiting for God’s empowering in us.

Galatians 6:9

King James Version

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

New Living Translation

So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

God usually gives answers through intuition. We must be aware of the things happening around us, which God uses, for us to know the answers. However, we have to be very careful because emotions can easily fool us. In this case, patience is in full swing. Problems and uncertainties will come and go, but God will make us strong through our patience by trusting more in Jesus Christ. Learning patience is trusting Jesus Christ alone. The way to have patience is to trust Jesus. This is the divine progress we are looking for in our spiritual lives. W will harvest spiritual blessings!

Our God gives us the chance to make our lives better, including patience. We read many things about patience in the Bible, but it seems that it is not working for us. Patience is the one we always lose, making us impatient. We have patience. However, we keep losing it because we also lose our trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus. The Lord is patient with us, and so must we. We should increase our patience through prayers approaching the throne of grace of our Father in heaven.

If we continue to trust the Lord, we will experience tremendous patience. This is why a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is needed. Accepting Him as Lord and Savior, we were born again, entering into the kingdom of our Father in heaven, making us a co-heir with Jesus.