A few months ago I was scrolling down through the pages of Facebook like and other traditional day and came across a comment from someone who had left the status "What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?". I dwelled on that saying for a little while and not really sure why but the Lord began to speak to me on how to use that as a way to deliver His word (that topic is coming on a later Blog) as I feel the topic I am posting on today is a little more of a pressing matter than the logistics of the Hokey Pokey, but the do kind of go together! As you will see at a later time.
So after a few weeks started going by I kept getting more and more and even more of these topical (sermon/ministry opportunity) ideas and was not sure what I was to do with them or where I was to share them. Right before all of this had begun I had started looking into furthering my education. I had enrolled in Colorado Technical University and was planning on attending with the idea of getting a Bachelor's degree in Business Management. That was the plan anyways. A few weeks of setting things up went by and one day at soccer practice I was talking to one of the soccer mom's about my education plans and discovered she was going to Indiana Wesleyan University (A Christian College) and I was intrigued and she said they offer the same programs but were a little cheaper. So I went home that night and checked it out and discovered that they offered degrees in Christian Ministries. Now I love serving the Lord, but I had never even thought of doing it full time or as a career, but God in His infinite wisdom may have other plans for me. I started dwelling on that and praying and seeking Him and everything in me kept drawing me toward withdrawing from CTU and enrolling at IWU. I felt God telling me that this is where I want you and this is where I need you and that I have brought you through everything in your life to get to this point so that you can use your experiences to teach others what not to do and what My will is for them.
So I listened. I have applied for IWU and still have a few more loose ends to tie up before Feb 8th when my classes will begin, but I can honestly say I have never been more excited about school!!!! BUT......I have not always felt that way and what I am going to share with you today is a glimpse of how hearing God and wanting to follow His plan for us can be totally different than what we want to do! Think of it like you have a teenager and you ask them to do the dishes for you or take out the trash? Do they ever do it the first time you ask? Do they do it without mumbling or complaining? Most of the time the answer to this question will be NO! Not always but most of the time. I have a 15 year old who tries to negotiate ALL THE TIME, which gets annoying. Just do what I ask when I ask you to, I say. I can just hear God saying that to me as I was fighting Him on this one! LOL.
I used to listen to this old Bill Cosby vinyl (yes I said vinyl) album all the time when I was a kid. It was one my Dad owned and I absolutely loved it. It probably has a lot to do with why I love stand up comedy so much now in my adult life.
Please take the time to listen to this, it will all make sense when I am done!
How often do we respond to God the way Bill portrays Noah to in this clip?! I know I respond this way far more often than I should! Now I know that this probably is not how Noah really responded to the Lord, but it is very similar to the way the Bible describes on how Jonah responds to the Lord. He tried to run and hide from the Lord, see here in Jonah 1:1-3:
Jonah Flees From the LORD
1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Jonah's punishment for running: he spent 3 days in the belly of a fish/whale depending on where you read it lol. 3 days! that had to of been the nastiest 3 days of his life! Guess what on the 3rd day when the fish coughed him up on shore. He did what the Lord had asked of him this time! He learned his lesson, I tell ya!
Fact is most people especially Christians do not even act upon God's will for them due to fear! Do not let this be you! In Romans 8 it says if God is for us then who can be against us?
In the Cosby track it shares a point of view from Noah about his neighbors and what they might think of him for doing what God wants (I say who cares what they think), but this is what the Bible says about it!
Isaiah 41:10,
10'Do not (A)fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God
I will strengthen you, surely (B)I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous (C)right hand.'
I was kind of battling with the topic of is this what I am supposed to do? I was letting doubt and the devil get in my head and immeadiately dove into the word to find the answers and this is one I came up with.
In Ephesians 1:11it says: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.
Isn't it pretty cool that God says we were predestined for His purpose. Not for our own or our spouses, friends, parents, or neighbors, but for HIS PURPOSE! WOW! I am made to serve God and to do His will on this earth not anything else! Don't get me wrong you can do His will from an job, but the better question would be....are you?
If you're not, it isn't the end of the world! Have you ever heard someone say "God doesn't make junk!" It is true.
Ephesians 2:10
10For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
There are a couple of keys to success when setting for to doing what God has told you to do!
1. Remember that Christians have each other's backs! If you go off course or are being attacked by Satan (because he WILL attack you) remember that you have brothers and sisters in Christ that will pray for you, fellowship with you, and just generally be there for you!
Acts 18:10
10For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.
2. Most of the time we lose sight of the fact that this is God who is calling us to do these things! It is the same God that we believe created every grain of sand piece by piece, that knows the number of every hair on our head. That made every star in the sky and makes the sun rise every morning and fall every night! C'mon people it is God!!!!! He can do whatever he wants to do in you, to you, through you, or your family, your church, to every single detail that you cannot even begin to fathom! It is God!
2 Corinthians 5:7 " We walk by faith, and not by sight"
Would it really be called faith if we could see what God was going to do through us?
Fun stuff when we decide to let go and let God.
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