ALL IN GOOD TIME

One thing we must learn as we walk this wondrous walk with the LORD is; God has His time and we have our time. For us to be successful in what God wants us to do is for us to be found patiently waiting and endure. There is always a waiting time between when God speaks and when His words become alive in reality to us. We humans seem to have a problem with waiting and it is when we are waiting that we fail to continue in the words that God speaks. If you think you have no problem with waiting just go to the supermarket and get in line. Now it is not a question of our faith because faith is a thing of the Spirit of God whereby God speaks to us, we hear Him, and contained in the words God speaks to us is all we will ever need to fulfill the intentions of God’s words to us. We see this divine spiritual principle in the life of Abraham. In Romans we read, “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.” (Romans 4:18-21) Because God spoke to him and he believed the words God spoke, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.” Did you get the beginning of verse 18, “Who against hope?” Hope and faith has nothing to do with it unless God first speaks it and if God does not speak then it will not happen. I do not care hold long you “stand on the promises” or “hold on to the horns of the altar” by faith. So many Christians are holding on in faith believing just to believe when God did not tell them what to believe. They are holding on to THEIR belief, what they want to believe because that is really what THEY want (how selfish) and not what God might want after all it is easier to hear from our self than from God. It is in these times of waiting for something (hopefully waiting for the promises of God) we can get off track and stumble and fall out of the way. I do not know why we think things must happen now or when we want them to happen. We did not make the earth and put all of its physical laws into motion. We did not arrange the heavens or the many birds that fly in them. Who do we think we are to expect things to happen when we want them to happen. Oh LORD please forgive me of my presumption and high mindedness when I think I am more than what I really am, when things do not go my way and I expect them to happen when I want them to. Oh LORD teach us to be found patiently waiting. All we have to do is read the Bible and we will discover (we discover things in God not find them) things take time and will face pain, confusion, mistrust, deception, bewilderment, etc. in God to happen that will bring things to completion, purpose, and fulfillment. Let us look at few examples that should help us understand and embrace this central truth in our lives, if not we will keep making the same mistakes again and again. God’s intention for us is to be learning and ever learning (mostly from our mistake and the errors we make), and not learning but NEVER learning. When Jesus was born the Angels heralded His arrival, told the shepards who He was, and told them of His mission in life, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) yet it took 33 years of sacrifice and even rejection to go by until the Angele words manifested into reality. Again in Luke, “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:44-46) Jesus’ mission on earth was not to do miracles, feed people, and tell good stories, but to come to earth and die as a blood sacrifice for the sin of mankind, “a Saviour.” In the first Book of Genesis we read God talking (again God must speak it) with Abram, later called Abraham, “And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 4And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.” (Genesis 15:3-5) Abraham said I have no seed, but God said your seed shall be as the stars of the heaven. Did God’s word come true? Yes of course, all you have to do is go to Israel and the see the countless faces of people who call themselves Jewish, not to mention the Christians who say they have been grafted into the family of Abraham, yet 1,000s of bloody, horrific years have passed for the Jewish people from when God spoke these words to Abraham. Later on in Genesis God spoke to Abram again, “And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.” (Genesis 17:1) Maybe Abram was wavering in faith to what God spoke to him the Bible does not clearly say, but for Abram (Abraham) to have countless decedents he will need to have a son, but then Abram was 99 years old and his wife Sari was 90. Later on in verse seven we read, “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” (Genesis 17:7) Again God spoke to Abram, “Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?” (Genesis 17:17) Sadly like us, along the way Abraham could not wait on God’s word to come to pass so he heeded the words of Sarah and “went into” (Biblical way of saying had sex) Hagar (Sarah’s Egyptian handmaiden) and Ishmael was born. He was a son as God promised, but Ishmael was not the “promised son” God promised. When we cannot wait and move outside of God’s words and time to us we turn God’s words into a lie and what God promised us, now will take more time to come to reality and the offspring of our impatient behavior will only complicate the plan and purpose for God’s will. We see Abraham’s mistake play out in real time every day when we see the events of the Middle East and the impact in the world from the struggle between the Arabs and the Jews. Abraham waited 1 year until Isaac the son of promise was born and God’s words to him became reality that Abraham could hold in his arms. “And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.” (Genesis 21:5) David was anointed king by Samuel at age 16 (best guess) then it was back to the sheep fold for him and another 14 years of much pain and sorrow running for his life before David sat upon the throne. In 1 Samuel we read, “And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.” (1 Samuel 16:12) And all along the way to the throne (and even after he was King) David ran for his life from Saul and battled (himself, others, and even his own son Absalom) to keep what God promised him. In 2 Samuel we read where David takes the throne in spite of being called and anointed by God 14 years earlier, “So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the LORD: and they anointed David king over Israel. 4David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.” (2 Samuel 5:3-4) There are so many wonderful lessons we can take from the life of David, but the one that really speaks to me and give me great pause is one not often preached about or even talked about, there are consequence for our actions even if God forgives us. Just because God forgives us does not mean we will not pay a price for our disobedience. God forgave David of his adultery with Bathsheba and for the murder of Uriah, but still David’s first born son died (a huge penalty in the Jewish culture), but the spiritual principle; the requirement of innocent blood still needed to be shed for sin and sins in those days. We too may have to face the consequences of our sins (of course this is God’s call) like King David did. The forgiveness of our sin was paid for through the precious shed blood of Jesus Christ spilled on the cross which wipes away our sin: IF we confess (agree what God is saying about us is true and that is we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God) our need for God with our own mouth (no such things as a sinner prayer) and repent (about-face and walk in a different direction) no consequence awarded except hell if we do not confess and turn, however our sins (individual acts of the flesh) have to be paid for and is a different arrangement. Jesus died for them too: we must confess and turn (stop sinning!!). Sin (to know right, but do wrong, to miss the mark) is a nature we all (from Adam forward) were born with and sins are things we do that are not in keeping with how God has instructed us to live in spoken word to us and the Holy Bible, His written word to us. When we live and operate outside the framework of God’s written and spoken word we are committing sins against God and maybe man, and yes Jesus died for these too, however sins like sin have consequences. We can see that in the life of Moses (like King David revered by the Jewish people) the man that God said was the humblest ever in the world. Moses was the great deliverer of the Children of Israel, but it took him 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before his people were delivered and dies at age 120. In Exodus we read, “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11) God used Moses to deliver His people from 430 years of bondage in Egypt, but in the 40 years they wandered in the wilderness they murmured, complained, and bellyached saying, “back in Egypt we did eat the leeks, melons, cucumbers, and fleshpots.” Moses put up with this for 40 years and because of this behavior and heart condition, “For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?” (Hebrews 3:16-17) and yes one time Moses displeased (Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it as God instructed him to do) God and yes even Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land, “So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” (Deuteronomy 34:5-7) I wonder why we sometimes think God does not mean what He say? From the time of the bondage in Egypt God spoke to the people of a deliverer who would one day come and lead them out and God’s word came true, but look at the consequences for the behavior of Moses and the people for their sins, “was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness.” Make no mistake my Christian friend there are consequences for our behavior God may forgive us like he did with King David and Moses, but still they both paid a dear price indeed. 

Everything we receive from God we receive all in good time. Now I do not believe God has a big clock in heaven and when the second strikes it is time to give us something. No I believe God gives us things when we have the ability to move correctly with Him in whatsoever He is doing, when we are able to give the expression of what He wants to see in any given situation, when we look (have the image of God in a given situation) like the Father as the Son looks like the Father. This is the hallmark of God’s timing. Then and only then can we function and move with God correctly. And yes, years (time) will pass by, pain, hardships, loss, joy, and blessing all will be involved in the plan God is unfolding in our lives all in God’s good time. Written by David Stahl

WHO TOLD YOU?

Many people (Christians alike) think the Book of Genesis is about creation, well if this was so God left out many of the details. Now the Book of Genesis does talk about things created; the heavens, earth, man, and etc., but more the focus of Genesis are spiritual principles God has established in which man must operate in to be correctly aligned with and to correctly function with Him. One cannot begin at the beginning of God since He has no beginning. The first few chapters of Genesis are a revelation of God by means of what He says and does. The main attraction of Genesis is not creation, but God. In the Jews Torah it starts, “GOD in the beginning.” God is always to be the beginning of all things. God is to be in every area of man’s being and doing, but sadly the zealous and fundamental religious focus on what God did and not on God Himself. I have a good friend who asked me if I thought drinking alcohol was a sin because his denomination has deemed it a sin. He said he has two sheets of verses, from the Bible, that his denomination puts out that proclaims drinking a sin. I asked him how many sheets of paper does his denomination put out that proclaims lying a sin? Paul told the Church in Colossi, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. 20Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 21(Touch not; taste not; handle not;” (Colossians 2:18-21) If we focus on God and what He says and does we then will not get all bogged down in all of these “Touch not; taste not; handle not;” fleshly earthly pursuits of trying to please God. God is not impressed with our keeping of the “ordinances,” He wants to write His commandments on our heart. In the first Chapter of Genesis we also find God provides for man’s physical needs, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” (Genesis 1:29) Man was taken care of the only thing he lacked was his need for his spiritual development so God planted a garden eastward in Eden (Genesis 2:8) and put man in it for his spiritual maturity and development. The garden was a spiritual arrangement for man’s learning. At first man was not in the garden God planted eastward in Eden. God needed a place to get man alone so God planted this garden so that He could have a place for regular communion and fellowship with man and more important to be able to teach man (whom He created) His ways, His divine spiritual principles that would enable man to do the things God created man for, but alas we know the rest of this part of the story. After Adam’s failure God came looking for him, “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” (Genesis 3:9-11) When God asked Adam for the “who” He was not asking Adam for information. God already knew the “who.” In the question God was teaching Adam a divine spiritual principle whereby, apart from God there is no other source of knowledge for man. The reason for failure and sin was not what Adam and Eve did not know they sinned in spite of what they knew. All that had to be done to avoid fear and death was to heed the word’s of God. Now through a tragic experience it is now learned that the charge from God, which seemed so restricting, was actually given to help man rather than to hinder him. Also in these verses we find a most critical spiritual truth we must embrace whereby God speaks to man and when man hears Him speak, man is nourished, and man’s correct response back to God means life, but for man’s incorrect response the result is death like with Adam. I do not believe God ever intended for Adam to die. Our walk with the LORD is a walk of faith; believing “God is” who He says He is, means what He says, and will do whatsoever He says He will do. Faith in God comes not by sight nor by our feelings, but by hearing, “ . . . . faith cometh by hearing” (Romans 10:17) not by sight or what we feel. Here God is teaching Adam the same lesson (also see Matthew 4:1-4) He will teach Moses and the Children of Israel in the wilderness, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) Man lives by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth and only God’s mouth. God is the one who feeds us and no one else. If we try feeding ourselves then we will get over into strange areas that will carry us out of God. For God to be able to feed us we must open our heart and receive from God as a baby bird in a nest receives from their mother. The LORD is the source of all nourishment and He cannot feed us if we do not open our heart. Man seems to want to take things, but Jesus never took anything, but received all things from the Father. In John we read Jesus words as He was praying, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovdest me before the foundation of the world.” (John 17:24) God was teaching Adam to be as a little bird, to open up, and respond only to Him; we cannot claim or take anything from God we must receive all that God has for us and we will receive it when and how God wants to give it to us. Who do we think we are to think we can take from God? I hear Christians tell their brothers and sisters to take the authority? Take God’s authority? How can we take something from God? Jesus never did this and is the servant greater than the Master? My friend God never intends for His children to have all things in one day as we try to do. In Matthew we read Jesus teaching the disciples to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11) well, this is more than just words in prayer, but was an instruction to the disciples to daily take whatsoever God has for them (and us) and also was the correct portion of manna for the Children of Israel while in the wilderness to collect. In Proverbs we read, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:” (Proverbs 30:8) God was teaching Adam (and us) to eat that which is good for our spiritual development. There is food for different levels of our development. If a new born in Christ tries to eat the stronger meat of the word they will starve to death because they will not (due to age) have developed the ability to understand spiritually what God is giving them. Just the opposite is true with the spiritual man. If a spiritual man takes in only the milk of the word after they have developed some teeth they too will starve death and their teeth will fall out preventing future development. “Convenient food” is based on our spiritual maturity and not on whether it tastes good, looks good, or even sounds good. God never intends to teach us everything in one sitting at the table, but has planned for a long meal with different foods as we grow in the grace and the knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ. Sadly for Adam and all of mankind he listened to another voice and paid a great price for his disobedience. Peter answered Jesus’ question and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) For Adam, God alone had the words of eternal life, but sadly Adam listened to another voice. So to today there are many voices out there in the world we can listen to instead of God’s voice. The world has voices that screams at our flesh to conform itself to. How sad it is to see Christians dress like the world, get tattoos and face piercings (our body is not ours to paint up or mutate), or get hooked on all of the worldly entertainment. Christian musical entertainers today have their own award show where they give each Dove (symbol of the Holy Spirit) Awards for making millions of dollars selling DVDs and CDs like the world does. Remember if it looks like duck, walks like a duck, and sounds like duck it is not a chicken, it is a duck. Well, if it looks like the world, walks like the world, and sounds the world it is not the Gospel message it is a worldly message. Oh how the love of the world rings loud and clear in the ears (me too at times) of most Christians. How can these Christians ever grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD if they have their sights set on becoming like the world instead of becoming like Jesus which is God’s goal in our lives? John tells us, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15) yet the church has adopted the ways, appearance, and heart of the world. Sadly Adam like the church of today has listened to other voices and the Father is not in them. Many Christians today listen to the many voices of denominations and religion. Sadly the focus on more people coming to church has replaced more people coming to Christ and why? People equal money and money equals power. We say we want the power of God well not so in most churches. Most churches want more money so they can build bigger barns. God is not concerned about building bigger barns (bigger churches) He is concerned about His children coming to know something about the way He functions and operates. In the last 5 or so years preaching and teaching on God’s timing has surfaced as to something that is important in our walk with the LORD. Many Christians think God has a big clock in heaven and He is waiting for a certain time to do things in the earth and in our lives, well that is so far from the truth. We hear, with every turn and twist in the Middle East, God’s second hand has moved closer to the appearing of His Son. Rubbish just rubbish. God’s timing depends not on events or circumstances in the earth, but when OUR heart is right to receive from God. God will not reveal His spiritual things to us until we are capable to understand them. Until then they will be a candle hidden under a bushel and our eyes will be blinded. It is not even about the call of God in our lives because most Christians respond more to the call of God then they do to God Himself. I have done this I know. We must not respond to God like Adam, “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Adam responded to God after listening to another voice. We are to love God more than His call of ministry on our lives. Who told you these things? God did. Written by David Stahl