Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Destined for His Plan

Yesterday was bible study day and here are the highlights, we began in Jeremiah 10:1-16. In our materialistic country it’s easy to get caught up in idols but this scripture reveals false gods for what they really are, that being items made by human hands which can neither do good or bad (see verse 5).

They can be inanimate objects or attitudes of the heart but they will be dealt with by God and his purifying fire. Nothing can be compared to the one true God. He makes lightning and thunder, he causes the earth to tremble, he made the world with his hands, he controls every part of nature and weather and nothing even comes close to his power and majesty!

We were discussing how God is in control of all things and he has our lives planned in advance for us. I raised this question… can a person miss their destiny? If destiny is a set of events that will happen, is it possible to miss or mess up the sequence in that set of events? I personally don’t think so. I think things happen as they are supposed to happen.

I recently read one of those forwarded emails about how we should sign some petition to stop some treaty that would pave the way for a one world government. I didn’t get too excited because I’ve read Revelation and Isaiah 9:6-7, Jesus is in control!

Why should I wear myself out trying to stop events that are destined to happen? It’s a waste of time. Our mandate from our Lord is to make disciples of all nations and we should not to get involved in civilian affairs (2Timothy 2:4) the goings on around us are situations that Jesus said we would have to endure (Matthew 24); they are also circumstances that will come and we are not to fret, fear and stew about it.

And now I will step down from my soap box and continue :]…In Acts 17:16-34 we watched Paul cleverly speaking to the intellectuals of his time about their alter to an unknown God. Paul confirmed our Jeremiah 10 scripture and showed us the difference between a dead idol and the power of the living God!

He speaks truth to them and explains that God doesn’t need our human hands to serve him, or to take control of things for him (as if we could control things) because he is quite capable of handling things…thank you! (Verses 24 and 25)

In verse 26 he goes into detail about how God has it all planned out right down to where each man should live and answers the question of why God would do such a thing in verse 27, “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”

In my personal pursuit of peace I have found that the more I leave for God to take care of the better off I am. This doesn’t mean that I never do anything but what it does mean is that I try very hard never to worry or fear about things. The bible instructs us numerous times not to worry and not to fear and that applies to every aspect of our lives, not just the ones we pick and choose. I don’t always accomplish this goal and when that happens sooner or later I realize that I am trying to do things on my own again. As soon as I repent God makes the adjustment in my heart and puts me right back on track.

The final scripture for the evening was Luke 14, it was a warning to us as well as an encouragement and it rounded off the evening quite nicely. The scene opens with Jesus sitting at a banquet in the house of an upper crust religious leader and all eyes are on him…and the guy with dropsy or edema as it’s called today across from him. It’s a set up to see how Jesus will respond on the Sabbath; will he break the law and heal the guy?

He knows what the game is and reveals it by addressing the “big white elephant” in the room and he is answered by silence. How terrible, these snooty people only invited him and the poor swollen soul to be the show. Jesus heals the man and again he is answered with silence when he confronts their hardened hearts.

Once again Jesus addresses the banqueters teaching them about being kind to one another and being humble. Then he turns his face to the host of the party and instructs him about who to invite and who not to invite the next time he has a party. It’s almost as if he is instructing them as a parent instructs his child on how to behave at a formal dinner. I wonder if they ever invited him again. :}

Then the plot thickens as he speaks to their way of thinking once more by telling them another story about another banquet given by a man who sends his servants to tell the people who have been invited that it was time for the banquet to begin. The servants are greeted with responses from people who are too wrapped up with what’s going on in their little world to leave it for something greater and they totally miss the best time of their lives…literally!

Could it be that they missed their destiny? Or rather is it that they were destined to miss it so that other, more needy than themselves could attend? Maybe Jesus was trying to get them to see who they really were…poor, crippled, blind and lame. They either had to see themselves in this light or they would have to be the ones who thought they were too good to be at the banquet.

Then Jesus drives it home by letting them know that everyone is invited to the “feast in the kingdom of God” (verse 15) from the response that started the whole story and narrows it down for them who they are by saying in verse24, “I tell you not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.” He clears the muddy waters and lets them know what he thinks of them in the process for they are as we are poor, crippled, blind and lame without Jesus in the sight of God. We are a pitiful lot bound for hell without a savior.

This is a warning for us too to watch our attitudes when confronted with all kinds of people and situations. We need to remember where we came from and who is in control. The rest of Luke 14 is about the cost of following him.

If we are destined to follow him there will be cost involved. It may be the loss of our close family members or friends that don’t agree with our decision to follow him. It may be the loss of our personal dreams. The point is that to follow Jesus there is a decision to be made.

The definition of disciple according to the web dictionary of Princeton College says a disciple is this: someone who believes and helps to spread the doctrine of another. It’s more than just following him; it’s believing him and telling others. Paul was sneered at and some believed him and others didn’t when he told them about Jesus in Acts 17. There is a price to pay but we shouldn’t worry or be afraid.

Somewhere along the way I’ve picked up this saying and it has helped me though the cost that I must pay. I won’t go back to the way I was because I’ve come too far…I certainly can’t stay here…so I will take another step and keep moving with Jesus.

If you feel like you’re at that point in your walk with him just hold tight to his hand and take another step because you can’t stay where you are and you can’t go back so go forward and if you have never given your life to Christ, now is the time to see yourself clearly…poor, crippled, blind and lame without hope of ever reaching the banquet table of heaven.

Receive him into your heart and life, confess your sins to him and believe that he died for you and tell others. Believe me this is the most important decision you will ever make.

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