Andyindauk
Active
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
- Messages
- 709
Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury.” But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘ Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?’ Now therefore, thus says the Lord : ‘You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’ ” So Elijah departed. II Kings 1:1-4 NKJV
Long time ago in a 'past life' I was working as an independent small business advisor. More than once, when visiting a new client I was presented a bankruptcy petition with a plea for help. Sitting down with the client, running through his business and the figures it quickly became quite clear what had gone wrong, maybe product, marketing, premises, over staffed etc. But the overriding thought going through my head was, if only you'd have asked me here a year or two back, then probably. Now I'm not arrogant enough to liken myself to God, rather I'm just illustrating a point.
We really need to be realistic about our limitations. You're not all powerful, with 20:20 intricate future vision with wisdom and foresight beyond measure, so why do you put all your faith in so called professionals that are slightly less limited than you are in terms of wisdom and foresight? I'm talking career teachers, lawyers, doctors, accountants etc. If you want to plan your future, avoid crisis or fix something that's gone wrong, then turn in the first instance to God and seek His wisdom and will. Ask, seek and knock, God what shall I do, which way and when? I'm not for a minute saying ignore professionals, not at all. God can talk to you through these experts but first pray in earnest, then listen to what he / she's saying intently, make no instant decisions but go home and pray for wisdom to dissect the advice and decide whether this is what God wants, is it suited to your best interests and does it accord with His will?
When you go straight to the experts for advice, disregard and ignore God, you're repeating the blunder of Ahaziah and one day He'll be asking you: 'Is it because there is no God in your life?' Now what happens if the advice is wrong? Who do you turn to then? No, gut reaction, seek God in the first instance, prayer, meditation, praise and love and read the Bible. That is true faith.
Two people who almost left it too late to ask for Jesus's help -
And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. Luke 8:41-56 NKJV
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Oh dear wonderful and amazing God, please, please, forgive the arrogance when I rely upon myself, my wisdom, intuition and experience or seek the advice of others, who are not you and cannot even hold a candle to your wisdom and power, often caring more about their fees rather than my best interests or your will in my life. Please, please dear God, give me that wisdom to seek and find your will whether through others or or through the Holy Spirit speaking directly to me as only He can.
Because I love you dearly God, I want to follow your will; I just need to find out what that is and then to disregard my stubbornness and stupidity, and follow and obey it.
Amen.
Long time ago in a 'past life' I was working as an independent small business advisor. More than once, when visiting a new client I was presented a bankruptcy petition with a plea for help. Sitting down with the client, running through his business and the figures it quickly became quite clear what had gone wrong, maybe product, marketing, premises, over staffed etc. But the overriding thought going through my head was, if only you'd have asked me here a year or two back, then probably. Now I'm not arrogant enough to liken myself to God, rather I'm just illustrating a point.
We really need to be realistic about our limitations. You're not all powerful, with 20:20 intricate future vision with wisdom and foresight beyond measure, so why do you put all your faith in so called professionals that are slightly less limited than you are in terms of wisdom and foresight? I'm talking career teachers, lawyers, doctors, accountants etc. If you want to plan your future, avoid crisis or fix something that's gone wrong, then turn in the first instance to God and seek His wisdom and will. Ask, seek and knock, God what shall I do, which way and when? I'm not for a minute saying ignore professionals, not at all. God can talk to you through these experts but first pray in earnest, then listen to what he / she's saying intently, make no instant decisions but go home and pray for wisdom to dissect the advice and decide whether this is what God wants, is it suited to your best interests and does it accord with His will?
When you go straight to the experts for advice, disregard and ignore God, you're repeating the blunder of Ahaziah and one day He'll be asking you: 'Is it because there is no God in your life?' Now what happens if the advice is wrong? Who do you turn to then? No, gut reaction, seek God in the first instance, prayer, meditation, praise and love and read the Bible. That is true faith.
Two people who almost left it too late to ask for Jesus's help -
And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’ ” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened. Luke 8:41-56 NKJV
===============================
Oh dear wonderful and amazing God, please, please, forgive the arrogance when I rely upon myself, my wisdom, intuition and experience or seek the advice of others, who are not you and cannot even hold a candle to your wisdom and power, often caring more about their fees rather than my best interests or your will in my life. Please, please dear God, give me that wisdom to seek and find your will whether through others or or through the Holy Spirit speaking directly to me as only He can.
Because I love you dearly God, I want to follow your will; I just need to find out what that is and then to disregard my stubbornness and stupidity, and follow and obey it.
Amen.
