BELIEVE Week 2: Whose plan was that anyway?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 2: God is Personal God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Are you a planner?
Are you a person that has your calendar scheduled, your goals defined, and your daily steps to execute it all? You are to be commended. I could use a bit more of that – simply to be a better steward of each of the days God has given to me.
How do you react when the ability to execute YOUR plan fails? Does your world fall apart when your plans fall apart?
I remember years ago a mom whose son was very good at baseball. He was a top player at the high school level and the mom loved watching him play and was very proud of him. College scholarships were on the horizon and there was certainly potential in his skill to make the major leagues. Until…
He suffered a major break in his arm.
I remember interacting with the mom and her frustration not just at the situation but at God were evident. How could God kill her son’s potential? Why did this have to happen when he had such great ability and potential?
I don’t know. But I do know this:
God’s plan is always perfect, but not always my preference.
I lost track of this family, but professional baseball was not God’s plan for his life.
When our plans change it is frustrating and challenging, but when I realize the change in plans was God’s way of caring for me, I will react very differently.
Instead of getting mad at God, I will be glad he changed things for my good.
I am sure it wasn’t in Jeremiah’s life-plan to spend 70 years in captivity in the nation fo Babylon. No one scrips their life goals and says, “I want to spend 70 years of my life in prison, without freedom and at the whims of other people.” At least I never would.
However, even in the hard exile into Babylon, the Lord spoke through Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 29:10-11 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Captivity wasn’t the end for Israel. It wasn’t the end to God’s promises. It wasn’t the end to God’s faithfulness. In fact, it was the next step for God to bring blessing to them in the future and to bring THE Blessing from them into the future.
While captivity in Babylon wasn’t their choice, perhaps one of the blessings was the influence of the LORD in that region. Tradition says the wisemen who visited little boy Jesus were spiritual descendants of David and other faithful Jews in Babylon…500 plus years earlier.
When God’s Spirit enables me to trust that God always gives what is good, even when it isn’t what I need, I can also trust him that his plan for my life is perfect, even if it is not my preference.
Has God changed your plans recently? Just remember and look for God to bring blessing in his time and way…knowing that he changed the plans to “prosper you, to give you hope and a future.”
Apply: When has God changed your plans? What was the blessing that came from it?
Prayer: My times are in your hands, o Lord. Help me to always trust that with my plans in your hands, you always love and care for me and execute your plans to give me hope and a future. AMEN.
BELIEVE: Do You Believe God Will Always Give You What Is Good?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 2: God is Personal God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Do you believe God will always give you what is good?
It’s hard to fully trust that, isn’t it?
Is cancer good?
Is CoVid good?
Is losing a job good?
Is losing a loved one good?
It’s hard right? Especially when we fall for the lie that Satan plants within us that “God doesn’t care about me when I don’t get what I want or God doesn’t do what I want him to do.”
On the surface, none of these appears to be good, nor is it something I would WANT for myself.
So, will I trust that God will always give my what is GOOD, even if it not what I WANT?
To trust this, I have to rely on God’s promises and his eternal track record. Only then can I call something “good” when it appears so bad.
First, a promise from Psalm 23:1,6
“The Lord is my shepherd…Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.”
A shepherd, true shepherd, will always want what is best for his sheep. He will lay down his life for his sheep. He will go after the lost sheep that wandered from the flock. He will ensure his sheep are safely in the pen to protect them from harmful predators. He will call each of them by name. Why? Because he has a relationship with each one. Each one has a place in the shepherd’s heart. So the Good Shepherd, Jesus promises, “goodness and love will follow you all the days of your life.” I will let go of my definition of good, and know that God’s definition and exhibition of good is always from his heart of love for me personally, and therefore good.
Second, a promise from Psalm 139:7-8
Where can I go from your Spirit?…If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there.
There is nowhere on this planet where God’s Spirit will not be. Sometimes it is hard to accept what is happening in life because we feel that God has abandoned us. Just when life gets difficult, our perception is that we have to face it all alone. We perhaps even cry out, “God where are you?” In those moments God whispers, “I am here with you.” When we know our loving heavenly Father is with us, we can always be confident he is there to do what is best for us.
Third, a promise from Psalm 139:13
You created my inmost being…you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Have you ever spent weeks putting a puzzle together? Spent weeks assembling computer code to write a working program? Or orchestrated the design and construction of a project. When we spend time putting something together, we know it so well as we are aware of every component that makes it up. In order for the mechanism to keep going we must have a deep concern for every part of the whole process.
God knit each of our cells together in our mothers’ womb. Would he not care for each part that makes you, you? Of course he would! He cares for the healthy cells as well as the unhealthy. He wants you to succeed at the purpose for which he created you…give glory to God.
The list can go on, but here are three short reminders to teach us that in life God will always give us what is GOOD, not always what I want.
Apply: Journal on an event that you didn’t think was good. How DID God turn it for your good?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for always giving me what is good, even when it’s not always what I want!
BELIEVE: Does God Care?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 2: God is Personal God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
Sometimes I don’t think he does.
Just glance through the headlines this week:
“Christians on edge in Afghanistan”
“75 dogs die in fire in Georgetown”
“Three die in train derailment in Montana”
“Covid cases continue to affect millions”
And the list goes on.
These headlines may cause us to pause and ask, “God where are you?” “Do you care?”
But it becomes more personal when my life is challenged.
I or someone I love gets CoVid.
I get in a car accident.
I get a serious medical diagnosis.
I lose a loved one.
Does God care about…me?
This is where it gets personal. When hard or challenging events occur in my life, it is tempting and often times reality that I blame God. I make him the cause of all my hardship. I question God. I wonder if he loves me or even knows what I am going through. I abandon God. After all, these situations seem to indicate that God has abandoned me. My thinking leads me to wondering, “Why should I stay with you God if you leave me when I need you most.”
Here’s the irony. When life is going well and I have what I want and life is going the way I want it to, God is perhaps a secondary thought. But the moment that life brings challenges, I believe God is personally responsible and involved in my life…and blame him for causing trouble.
So which is it.
The truth is God is a personal God who loves and cares for you very much. We will explore how we know that this week.
Here is the other truth…Satan is a liar and he gets us to believe lies about God and misjudge how much God cares for us. How so? Here’s how I would summarize it:
Satan leads me to believe this lie: “God doesn’t care about me when I don’t get what I want, or God doesn’t do what I want him to do.”
The problem? I think I can define and mandate HOW God should care for me. As a result when he doesn’t do what I think he should, I conclude, “God doesn’t care.”
For your day today, consider this:
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Apply: When do you feel/think that God doesn’t care? Evaluate what led you to think that way.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for still caring for me, even when I think or feel that you don’t. AMEN.
BELIEVE: Why is it critical to believe in the true God of the Bible?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 1: Believe in God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
“We all believe in the same God and call him by different names.”
“There are many paths to heaven.”
Ever heard these phrases? Thought them?
Are they true?
Is every person named “Mike” the same? Is every restaurant the same?
The answer is no.
Ask Burger King if they are happy when someone says, “You’re just like McDonalds”
Ask Ruth Chris Steakhouse if they find a review that says, “The steaks taste just like one from Ponderosa.”
Just like not all people are the same, not all restaurants are the same, not all gods are the same.
If one just looks at similarities we create with our knowledge of nature, our conscience or the feelings of the soul, perhaps we see similarities, but the true God, the Lord stands out as different. One of many examples, the Lord was not “OK” with people saying “Baal and the Lord are the same thing.”
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
At the end of the challenge, while Baal remained silent, the Lord consumed the sacrifice with fire and power.
It makes a difference to believe in the God of the Bible.
Because he is the ONLY true God!
Baal won’t get you to heaven. Allah won’t get you to heaven. Buddha won’t get you to heaven. NO OTHER God has invested IN you as the God of the Bible has. No other god LOVES you like the Father. No other God gave himself FOR you like the Son. No other God lives IN you like the Spirit.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not acknowledged me,
6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting
people may know there is none besides me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:5-6)
It matters to believe not just in a god, but the true God of the Bible. Your eternity in heaven depends on it!
John 17:3 “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Apply: Take time to investigate another “god” – how are they similar or different than the true God. What does the true God do for you that this other god can’t?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for revealing yourself as the true, loving and saving God. Apart from you there is no other and we are blessed to know you and believe in you! AMEN.
BELIEVE: What do you believe about the true God?
Devotions this week based on the Message: “BELIEVE: Week 1: Believe in God!”
(NOTE: This sermon series and devotional series is based on a book by Randy Frazee entitled, “BELIEVE.”
You may choose to download or purchase the book as a supplement to your worship and devotional emails.)
I really didn’t know that about you!
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone you thought you knew pretty well only to have them reveal some part of them or their past that you never knew?
Perhaps it was the “missing link” to really understand a person and how they view the world and interact with it. Perhaps it was just a fun trivial fact.
I wonder…no, I know…that there are many people who would be surprised if they really got to know the true God as he’s revealed himself in the Bible.
Too many go through life with a perception about God based on movies they’ve seen, people they’ve talked to, or even bad church experiences they’ve gone through.
As a result, they have an incomplete at best or a completely wrong perception of God altogether.
Getting to know God is a lifetime opportunity. Even after being a life long Christian (50 years) and pastoring for 25 of those years, I am still uncovering and marveling at who the true God is and what impact he has in a very real and personal way on my life.
I could claim great diligence in uncovering and discovering God, but it is the opposite. God reveals himself to us as we spend time in his Word of truth.
What do we uncover? What does he reveal to us about himself that we can believe with 100% certainty?
This short concluding verse of Second Corinthians summarizes it well:
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor. 13:14)
In this brief verse, God reveals a lot about himself we won’t find in nature, our conscience or our soul.
- He is a God of free and faithful grace.
He willingly gave his Son Jesus Christ to come to this earth to do what you and I could not do for ourselves so that we might be restored into a right relationship with God after our sin broke it. Jesus lives a perfect life, which he credits to our account. Jesus died an innocent death which pays for all the debt our sin accumulated. Jesus rose again to prove the payment was paid in full and we too will live with him forever. ALL of this he gives to us as a gift of grace!
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that he gave up his heavenly riches for you. He gave up everything so that you could be richly blessed. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
- He is a God of free and faithful love.
The fact that the true God would put his name on us and claim us as his own…true love. The fact that God would show his love to individuals who have rejected and pushed him away all too often…true love. The fact that he has made us part of his family through baptism and called us his children…true love!
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
- He is a God of free and faithful fellowship
God the Holy Spirit loves to build unity in the hearts of people. He is the one who works faith in our heart to trust what Jesus did for the world is ours personally. He is the one that builds unity of faith among people that we might enjoy the relational fellowship of the Church. He is the one that solidifies and strengthens our relationship with God and opens our heart to allow God himself to dwell with in us. He is God the Holy Spirit, the god of free and faithful fellowship or unity!
3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:3-6)
Nature tells us of God’s power and knowledge. Our conscience tells us of God’s justice and accountability. Our soul seeks the divine and the presence of God. The Bible completes the picture by revealing the Triune God as the Father who loves us, the Son who saves us and the Spirit who restores our relationship with God.
God wants you to know this about him!
Apply: Open your Bible and read a chapter…any chapter. What does that chapter teach you about God? What insight about God might you say, “I never knew that before!”
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for revealing yourself to us through the pages of the Holy Bible. Lead us on a lifetime of learning and fascination to learn and experience things about you that we have never known or experienced before. AMEN.