Good Ideas vs. God Ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David was a man who often sought the LORD before he made any major decisions. 2 Samuel 5 shows David seeking God several times, waiting for his instruction and then being obedient to what God told him. However in his zeal he made a mistake that would cost a man his life.

In 2 Samuel 6, King David called 30 thousand chosen men, you can say the leaders, to move the Ark of the Covenant. They had an idea! Because the ark was so heavy and to be more efficient, they were going to put the Ark on a cart to transport it with oxen instead of carring it on their shoulders like they were instructed (Numbers 7:9).

They were so happy, singing and dancing and praising the Lord. The Ark tilted and Uzzah, wanting to protect it, put his hand out to catch it. Uh oh! A no no! No one was supposed to touch the Ark! Uzzah died immediately. King David was then upset and afraid of God.

Have you ever found yourself doing something that seemed like a good idea and it falls apart? It is especially difficult when you are convinced that God is being glorified. When you embark on something that is a good idea instead of a God idea – people usually get hurt. That is the time when people, much like David, get displeased with and afraid of God. But it was never God’s fault!

We have a wonderful gift from God. It is our very own instruction manual. Whatever we need to know is found in two places – prayer and God’s word. Truly answered prayer will always be confirmed with God’s word.

There are tons of ‘how to books” out there that are great and beneficial to everyday life. They can help us be more efficient in our endeavors. But when it comes to the things of God the only book that matters is God’s book.

King David had the Law as his guide; however he went with the next good idea. That was an extreme error! Let’s learn from King David. Hello – we are Christians! So our guide book should be the Bible. If God does not tell us to do it – no matter how great the idea seems, it is not a GOD idea.

Which book(s) are you referring to when you need direction? The ‘how-to” book(s) or the Bible?

Want to be a better Christian? Want to know how to do great things for God? Want to actually partake in doing great things for God? Put down the magazine and read your BIBLE. More than that, do what GOD instructs you to do from THAT BOOK.

Discovering the Bible Cont….

The Discovering the Bible class has been AWESOME. We’ve been learning so much. One of the first instructions was to push back what we think we know about the Bible and read it with fresh eyes. It has sparked many questions, answers and insight like:

Who were the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6? If they were fallen Angels they why did they have frequent appointments with God (Job 1 and 2) and if they were fallen angels why were they still called His sons? The sons of God are mentioned being there in the beginning and shouting for joy during God’s creation (Job 38:7) 

Why did God say that man’s days would be 120 years before the flood; however after the flood for generations people lived to be anywhere between 148-600 years old? If you notice He made this comment before the flood. So was that a message just to those people? Would their days would be 120 years before the flood?

When God pronounced judgement on Cain why did Cain fear being killed by “anyone” in the land? Was it just Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 or were there more people somewhere? Hint (Read Chapter 5).

WOW! Discovering the Bible is soooooo much fun!

Discovering the Bible

Well, we just completed the first class of Discovering the Bible at LW. This is some of what we’ve learned  about the Bible so far.

1. It is made up of 66 books written over 1600 years. 
2. The bible was the first book printed on the printing press with moveable type (Gutenberg Press, 1455, Latin Bible)
3. The Masoretes were (special Jewish scribes) entrusted with the sacred task of making copies of the Hebrew scriptures from AD 500-900.
4. —The Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls confirmed the reliability of some of the Old Testament Bible. Although some spelling errors exist, no variations effect basic bible doctrines.
5. —There are still 2000 groups with no Bible in their own language (as of 2008).

No Discrimination!

While reading through Matthew chapters 8-9, I noticed something wonderful about Jesus. He did not discriminate when it came to healing. It is amazing to read how people would come to Him with leprosy, blindness, a blood disease, dead loved ones, and demonic possession and He would heal and deliver them – no questions asked. He never said “What sin have you gotten yourself into that has caused this sickness”. He never said, “You need to get your life right first before I perform a miracle on your behalf”. Instead He met them all where they were and healed them. All Jesus needed was faith. Once they asked, He healed and delivered them right away.

So here is my question: Why do we think that is has to take months or years to be healed? Is that a stronghold in our mind? According to these scriptures all we need is faith. And for those of us who do not have sickness in our body but are in belief with friends and loved ones for their wholeness – do not judge them like Job’s “friends” did trying to find out why they are going through what they are going through. Just remember that Jesus did not discriminate. All He needed was faith.

JUST Speak It. Really?

How many times has it been said that if we want something we just need to speak it? Is that really true? God just spoke things into existence, right? Let’s look at Genesis Chapter 1.

The first verse in Genesis says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. He created them by Jesus.

Ephesians 3:9

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ

He said in verse 3 “let there be light” and there was light. In verse 6 He said let there be firmament and then in verse 7 He made the firmament. He made all things by Jesus.

John 1:1-3

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In verses 9-12 He “said”,  however in Genesis Chapter 2 we see the work that God did to make those things come to pass.

As you continue to read Genesis Chapter 1 you’ll see that God said and then He made (by Jesus). Is it enough for us just to say something? We should combine our words of faith with works of faith. In James 2:14-26  it says that faith without works is dead. If you believe something there should be a corresponding action to that belief. If you want to lose weight you speak it and then you make it happen with diet and exercize. If you want prosperity, you say it and then you work on your budget.

If you truly want something to change in your life speak it and then make sure that your faith is followed by action.  However, your words and actions should line up with the Word of God!

Lessons I Learned from the Flood

I was watching “Miraculous Messages from Noah’s Flood to the End Times” and gleaned some neat info that I wanted to share in my blog. Instead of elaborating, I thought I would just share my notes. So here they are:

Geneology – Adam to Noah
Adam = Man
Seth = Appointed
Enosh = Mortal
Kenan = Sorrow
Mahalalel = The Blessed God
Jared = Shall Come Down
Enoch = Teaching
Methuselah = His Death Shall Bring
Lamech = The Despairing
Noah = Comfort or Rest

All of the names put togother =
Man (is) appointed moral sorrow, (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing comfort, or rest.

How awesome is the patience and longsuffering of God? He gave the people in Noah’s day 120 years to repent. We only give people a few days, hours, or weeks to get it right. Hmmm

God, through the geneolgy of Adam to Noah proved that He is a God who plans for the best outcome. He uses all of the knowledge and wisdom that He has to ensure a favorable outcome. So when many wonder how God could allow many to persish – first of all it is not His will that any would perish. He has given us a free will to chose to love and to serve Him. However, giving someone free will is a huge risk. Some will do well by the freedom given and some will not.

In order to get to the place of perfect fellowship with God (from people with free will) it would cost (those who chose not to serve and love Him with their will). However in the end we (those of us who chose to use our will to love and serve Him) will have perfect fellowship with Him. That is what He wanted from the beginning. Amazing how it will take thousands upon thousands of years to accomplish something as wonderful as willfully perfect fellowship with God and man. (Again revealing the patience of God. Hmmm).

Multitasking is Not Good for The Brain

I am too young to forget as much as I have forgotten. Have you ever had memory delay? You know, it is when someone asks you something and it takes a while to recall. It could be 5 minutes or it could be 5 hours before you remember or can think clearly enough to answer. I have been there far too often lately. When I was younger my friends used to tell me that I never forgot anything because I was so good at recalling the details.

What has caused the change in my memory was the fact that I’ve spent the last 9 years multitasking. Neuroscience has shown that multitasking affects memory, causing a delay in what we recall. So what have I decided to do? STOP MULTITASKING.

In today’s world those words can be viewed as blasphemy. We have accepted the belief that in order to be successful you have to be able to do multiple things at one time. FORGET THAT (pun intended). I’d rather preserve my memory then to accept that. FOCUS is the key to success. Not-to-mention I have made more mistakes multitasking than taking the time to focus on what I am doing and setting boundaries against distractions.

Don’t believe me? Check out this article written by Dr. Bill Klemm written on Oct 29, 2008 as well as the other links provided below.

Brains Can’t Recall Multi-task

“Our brain works hard to fool us into thinking it can do more than one thing at a time. It can’t. Recent MRI studies at Vanderbilt (#3) prove that the brain is not built for good multi-tasking. When trying to do two things at once, the brain temporarily shuts down one task while trying to do the other. In the study, even doing something as simple as pressing a button when an image is flashed caused a delay in brain operation. MRI images showed that a central bottleneck occurred when subjects were trying to do two things at once, such as pressing the appropriate computer key in response to hearing one of eight possible sounds and uttering an appropriate verbal response when seeing images. Activity in the brain that was associated with each task was prioritized, showing up first in one brain area and then in the other ― not in both areas simultaneously. In other words, the brain only worked on one task at a time, postponing the second task and deceiving the subjects into thinking they were working on both tasks simultaneously. The delay between switching functions was as long as a second. It is highly likely, though not yet studied, that the delays and confusion magnify with increases in the number of different things one tries to do simultaneously.

So what has this got to do with memory? Well, if you try to memorize the first task and the brain immediately switches to the second task, performance of the second task interferes with consolidation of the memory of the first task. In my earlier article on memory consolidation, I explained how early memory is vulnerable to interference and must be protected from distractions and new information in order for the memory to be made permanent. Likewise, there are proactive effects wherein what you learn on the first task can interfere with learning on the second. All these problems are compounded if there are three or more tasks in a “multi-tasking” experience.”

http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/10/29/memory-problems-perhaps-you-are-multi-tasking/ 

 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/07/060726083302.htm 

 

Listening to the Silence

I was recently reading two articles in Leadership magazine. One was titled “Can You Hear God Now? Your Most Important Leadership Role: Discerning and Obeying God’s Voice. Together.”  The other was titled “I Have This Feeling…Even Non-Intuitives Can Hone Leadership Instincts”. Both of the articles had the same theme and instruction:

Listen to the Silence

Listening to the silence very often shows you what people are REALLY thinking and saying. Since reading those articles the same thought pops into my mind every morning. “It is often easier to filter through the noise then to listen to the silence”. What do I mean by that? I am going to tell you. Hold on to your seat. I am shooting straight from the hip right now. Ready??

When you listen to the noise you are able to filter out the words that you want to hear to accomplish what you want to do. Silence very often will guarantee some disagreement. It is our nature to not want to deal with disagreement so we avoid the silence and say “Nobody said anything about…”

However as responsible leaders, friends, family members, and spouses we should always be willing to listen to the silence. That does not mean that you have to agree with their disagreement. It just means that there may be some wisdom there waiting to be tapped into.

So I challenge you. The next time you are meeting with a group of people get feedback from the quiet one. Or when you are speaking to a friend or spouse make it a point to discover what the silence is about. But don’t nag them because the silent ones are silent because they do not believe that they will be heard. They need to know that there is a safe harbor before they will open up. If they will not open up then you may need to ask yourself if you are REALLY providing a safe harbor. Well…that is a topic for another post.

 

Newton’s Law

Newton’s third law states that “for every action there is an equal (in size) and opposite (in direction) reaction”. A good example of this law is a moving car. The wheels on the car spin forward pushing backward on the road which in turn propels the car forward. Another example could be jumping. To jump a person must bend their knees and press backward on the ground with some force while lifting their weight up in ordered to be propelled upward.

So simply stated, Newton’s third law teaches us that to be propelled forward you will have to push something backward. As Christians, Newton’s law can apply to our lives. If we want to propel forward we will need to push something backward. When we get married we have to leave our father and mother and cleave to each other. When we get saved we leave the old life and old way of thinking and doing and become new in Christ.

If you’ve been wanting to propel forward and wondered why it is not happening, then maybe you need to consider what you need to push backward.

Our New Magazine

 

For a couple of years now I’ve taught the Discovering Living Word class at Living Word. Class after class I’d mention as part as the vision of the church that we will read “stories of each other’s victories…in our magazine…” Now that day has finally arrived! Micah and his team have done an awesome job putting together our very first magazine. If you haven’t had a chance to read it, make sure you check it out the next time you are at church. If you are a member of LWFC please take the time to share you testimonies with us. Go to Micah’s blog and start sharing today!