SUBJECT - SETTLING FOR LESS THAN GOD'S BEST??!!![3]
When I left off
last month, I was beginning to reveal one of the reasons for our being in the position we are in, as it pertains to why most of us seem to just take what life gives us, and be satisfied with it, because that is all we are going to get.
Many of us have tried and tried for years, to get ahead in this life, just to see our plans crumble in to dust.
When asked who do they blame for their condition, many will blame another person, or group of people. And, when they do this, they have someone to target, with their anger.
However, as I mentioned last month, the main one[person] that is to blame for their misery, is usually the person, themselves.
If you look at it like this, nothing can happen to you negatively, or positively, if God doesn't allow it. That means you can't be blessed if God doesn't put His stamp of approval on it, and you can't be injured, hurt, or otherwise cursed, if He doesn't allow it.
So then. What determines how He deals with each one of us???
How we respond to His direction for our lives.
Practically every scripture I have given you up to this point, relays the idea/message that those who are obedient to His Word [Christ], are on the road to blessing, while those that choose to disregard His Word, are in line for trouble.
That puts the blame squarely on the shoulders of every individual[themselves] for their own condition, period!!!
When we that name the name of Christ, go about looking for someone, or group of individuals to blame for our miserable condition, we are disregarding God's Word [Christ], and putting ourselves in the shoes of the ungodly, because that is always their solution to their problems.
And, by disregarding His direction, you are opening yourself up for more, of the same. It all goes back to
Deuteronomy 28:15-end.
Do bad things happen to good people[saints]??? Of course they do, just like good things happen to bad people. That is all part of life.
The thing is, the person that knows Christ, and follows His directions for their lives, has far fewer, and less severe problems to deal with, than does the ungodly. [Exo. 8:22-24].
Bible history, and human history bare these facts out.
If you read the story of the children of Israel, while they were in bondage to Egypt, you will see that when God sent the plagues on Egypt, they, the children of Israel were isolated from them [the plagues.]
In fact, it is totally possible to be in the midst of all hell breaking loose around you, and not having it have an effect on you, at all.
Isa 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
This is another one of those blessings God has promised us.
If we look at nations in the world today, that uphold the standards set forth by God, through Jesus Christ, we will see that they are at the top of the list when it comes to power, wealth, prestige, and greatness.
Of course, when you are on the top, there are those that are below, that tend to be all bent out of shape, and envious of the one[s] on top and, depending how far down the ladder they are, will begin to plot how to tear them down.
These are usually the ungodly. But a lot of so-called saints fit in that picture as well.
Why do they do this??? Because they are settling for the easy way of doing things, if you could call it that, to get what they can't get from God because of their disobedience to Him.
Earlier, I talked about the devil being behind all that is wrong in this world. And, many of you, probably would say, it is a fairy tale, or the devil is defeated, or that he is bound up somewhere, or that he doesn't even exist.
Listen, if Jesus talked about him during His time on this earth, and then the apostles, being led by the Holy Spirit, wrote about him in the epistles, and in Revelations, and how we have to be vigilant because he seeks to destroy us,
1Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:, then what part of that supports what you have been thinking???
Do you know why you think like that??!! Because the devil, likes to remain hidden from view, so he can get us to focus on others for our misery.
Remember the cartoon about two guards guarding, a castle and when their backs are turned to each other, a third person hidden from view throws a rock and hits one of them in the head, and that guard thinks his partner did it.
Then when their backs are turned to each other again, the third person does the same thing again to the other guard. And with no one in sight, at some point the two get to fighting, and end up with one or both of them injured or dead.
That leaves the way for the enemy to just walk right on in, with little or no resistance.
This happened, once again, because there was an enemy, hidden from sight, that orchestrated the entire scenario, to get done, what he wanted to accomplish.
If you can understand that, then you can understand why we are at each others throats because of the way things are playing out in
our lives.
Every time something goes wrong in our lives, that is the devil throwing something at us. And since he doesn't exist, or at least is no where in sight, we immediately focus on someone else as the cause of our problems.
The devil has all types of weapons to throw at us, from lies up to death, and every thing in between, for one specific goal, and that is to get us to quit following Christ, and thus cutting our selves off from God's blessings for our lives.
Once we do that, then we lose focus on the Blesser and start focusing on why things are so bad. And the devil is right there to get us to look at something or someone else as the cause of the problem.
We then begin to move in to a state of dealing with things by becoming militant against those that we see as our adversaries, or we begin to accept the idea that it must be God's will, and thus accept every thing that the devil throws at us as being God's will.
I get so tired of hearing saints talking about what is, and is not God's will, when it comes to every thing that leaves a person feeling that there is nothing better for them in life, and that they should just learn to live with it.
Problem is, the vast majority of us don't want to live with it because we are not built like that.
If we can't get something better one way, we will try to get it another. In short, if we can't get what we want from God, we will get it without Him.
Once again, this is what the devil wants because he knows what will come next. More misery and even death.
As more and more things start going wrong in our lives, we begin to settle in to the notion that this is what life is about, and that there is no need to try to better our lot in life by following God's direction, because that is just the way it is meant to be.
And, that is true for those that walk outside the realm of God's blessing.
This is not what God wants for them, but what they have settled for because they don't want to do things His way.
Do you think God wants to see us[the human race, and especially His Saints], all of which are made in His image, suffering the way we are?? Do you think He likes to see us killing each other?? Do you think He likes to see our kids killing each other or dying from drug overdoses, and diseases that are usually found in the elderly???
Do you think He wants us to just barely make it in this life, being unable to provide for our families because we can't find a job, or are too sick to work???
Do you think He wants us to settle for destroying ourselves and each other to survive???
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14 again!!!
There is no way God would make all these things available to us, then put limits on what we can have,
unless we put ourselves in that position.
Once again, it falls back on us.
You should be asking yourself, when things are going consistently wrong in your life,
'What am I doing, that is allowing the devil to attack me like this?? I need to seek God about this!!'
One of the things you need to be able to do, is recognize when a problem is demonically orchestrated, versus when it is just an opportunity for your growth spiritually and mentally.
Just as athletes, body builders, military personnel, and others, who seek to be the best that they can be, have to subject themselves to situations that cause them distress, and pain at times, so too, do God's people, in order to Grow in faith.
It has been said that, unless we have problems in our lives, we would never know that God can solve them.
When a problem presents itself, you have several choices to make. You can, depending on what it is, sit back, do nothing and hope things get better. Or, you can try to fix it yourself. Or you can call on God, and trust Him to fix it.
Depending on which choice you make, you will either be heading down a path that will ultimately lead you in to a position of just giving up, after a long time of trying and failing, or realizing that you are fully funded[supported by God], in your endeavors to the point that you will not be afraid to expand your horizons, and as one passage of scripture urges us to launch out in to deep waters, waters that are filled with new challenges, and greater rewards
Eze 47:1-14.
This passage of scripture shows us an example of a person on a beach, going in to the water, and continuing to wade out in to deeper waters until they have to swim. If you can't swim, you will stay near the shoreline where it is safe.
Well, if you don't have, or know God's promises to you about what is available to you,
out there in the deep, you will tend to play life safe. You know, take what you believe is the easy way of doing things. You don't want to shake things up. You want to take what life offers you, and accept that as God's will for your life.
Those that know God, and His promises to them, are not afraid to challenge the status quo, to go where no man has gone before, to launch out in to the deep.
Dan. 11:32b........they shall do exploits!!!
Your reward is not going to be in the safe zone, but rather out in deep waters.
Luke 5:4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught [blessing/reward].
God wants what is best for you, but, He is not going to just throw it at you, or drop it in your lap. Some times you will have to go through a little something or wait a little longer, and leave that comfort zone to get it.
God responds to faith,
Heb 11:6, Without faith[in Him and His Word/Christ], it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
The thing is, when all these tests, trials, problems, obstacles and other things come along, that seem to you to be bad luck
[which there is no such thing as luck, it is either blessing or cursing], that is your opportunity to show God, just how much faith you put in His direction for your life.
Phi 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
To us, looking at things from the carnal[natural] way of thinking, when these problems come our way, we tend to look for what we feel is the right way of dealing with them, first. Then after our way fails, we either give up, and settle, or as a last resort, turn to God, if at all.
I will possibly be closing this message out,
next month.