Tag: obey

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Don’t Wait, Part Two: Missing Out on the Promise

The Manna Chef

Sisters, if you missed part one, I encourage you to go back and read it.  We discovered that the people of Israel heard conflicting reports about their Promised Land.  Moses sent out spies to check on the land.  One spy, Caleb, returned with this report: “The land is amazing.  It’s all that God said it would be.  Yeah, there are some giants there, but we can beat them with God on our side.  Let’s go occupy our land!” 

But there was another report, one that wasn’t so positive.  That report said, “There’s no way we can get that land.  Those giants are huge, and we can’t beat them.  We’re like grasshoppers to them.  We’ll get devoured in that land.”  … So, guess whose report the people chose to believe?  Let me give you a hint, it wasn’t Caleb’s.  As a matter of fact, the people wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb!  They allowed fear to take the place of their promise.  And God took notice!

“How long will these people treat Me with contempt? Will they never believe Me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?   I will disown them and destroy them with a plague.  Then I will make you [Moses] into a nation greater and mightier than they are!”  (Numbers 14:11-12 NLT)

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Surrender…The Heart of Worship

The Manna Chef

Worship is loving God for who He is, not just for what He does for us.  1 John 4:19 reminds us that “we love God because He first loved us.”  God loved us before we were even conceived!  He showed his love for us when He allowed Jesus to come to earth and experience life the way we do.  And then, God sacrificed His Son just for us!  Romans 5:8 says, “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  God loved us before we even accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior.  Jesus didn’t wait for us to “get life right.”  He loved us so much that He became the most perfect sacrifice. 

How many of you know that love is an action word?  Our worship to our Heavenly Father should actually demonstrate love, and it should be active; at the heart of that worship is surrender.  Surrendering to the Lord’s will should be our response to His amazing love and mercy.

But what does it mean to surrender?  First of all, surrendering means admitting our limitations.  Romans 7:18a says, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.”  We have to realize that without God we cannot do anything.  We have to relinquish that desire to always be in control.  As a matter of fact, the desire to control is the oldest temptation.  When the serpent deceived Eve, he appealed to her desire to be in control.

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God Is Our Source

The Manna Chef

I was sitting here reflecting on the many ways God continues to provide for me, many times without me even realizing it.  I have experienced some difficult seasons in my life, like times when the bills totaled more than my actual income, and it seemed like I was buried in debt.  But God continued to provide for me.  (He always has.)  It was pretty humbling.  I went from being able to write checks to help folks meet their needs to having to borrow a dollar on more than one occasion.  I found myself on the receiving end, and it was really a season of growing in humility.  I simply didn’t have what I desired, and I certainly didn’t have the surplus I was used to having, so I had to allow others to bless me.  

I’ll be honest; that wasn’t easy.  I have always been a giver; turns out, I needed to learn how to receive.  And I had to learn how to trust God to get me through those times.  He continued to take care of me while teaching me how to allow Him to provide and show up in my life and how to make room for others to experience the joy of being a blessing to me.  Whether it was a golden handshake (when God leads someone to place a monetary blessing in your hand) or someone showing up at my door with groceries, God took care of me.  Other times, He allowed income opportunities to make their way to me.  Out of nowhere, there were tutoring jobs and singing gigs, anything to create room for God to provide for His daughter.  You know what?  God always takes care of His own.  Think about the many ways God has provided for you throughout your life.

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Jehovah Jireh

The Manna Chef

Sisters, today I want to remind you that our God really is Jehovah Jireh—He will provide.  I want you to really meditate on that today, because God always takes care of His children.  And He gives us His best. 

Think about how God showed up for Abraham.  Remember that God provided a ram in the bush to take the sacrificial place of Isaac, right?  (Read Genesis 22:1-14 when you have some time.)  Well, today I decided to take a closer look at the timing of God as He allowed that ram to show up.  Abraham had already built the altar and had laid the wood in order.  Then he bound Isaac on the altar on top of the wood, reached out his hand, and took the knife, fully prepared to slaughter his son as a sacrifice to God, yet having faith that he and Isaac would both return from the mountain (see verse 5).

Did you notice that Abraham did all of the work to prepare Isaac to be sacrificed before God showed up with the ram?  I mean, have you ever wondered why Abraham didn’t see the ram before he even laid Isaac on the wood?   And did you happen to notice that Abraham obeyed God rather than ask Him why he’d been told to sacrifice his son in the first place?  Abraham followed the instructions, even to the point of grabbing the knife, and still believed that God would show up.  And of course, God did just that! 

So, Abraham named that place “The Lord Will Provide.”  And it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be seen and provided.” (Genesis 22:14 AMP)

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Five Smooth Stones and a Sling

The Manna Chef

Sometimes the giants that we face seem insurmountable. The storms of life are raging all around us and it may feel like we cannot face the challenges ahead for any number of reasons. But the truth of the matter is that we may simply have to face the giants and fight for our promises. We have to rely on the Holy Spirit and quit allowing the enemy to beat us up time and time again.

In I Samuel 17, Saul and the army of Israel were standing on one side of a mountain ready to face the Philistines, who were standing on the other side. Only a valley was separating them. They were prepared for battle.

Enter Goliath. He was 9 feet and 9 inches tall. He had on a bronze helmet, and he was covered in armor. He even had bronze armor covering his legs and carried a bronze javelin between his shoulders. His armor weighed between 175-200 lbs. The head of his spear weighed 20-25 lbs. And he even had a man running in front of him carrying a shield the size of a grown man. Let’s face it, this was no ordinary foe! Goliath presented an enormous challenge.

(v. 8) Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.”

Goliath challenged the men of Israel to a representative battle. That meant they would fight one on one. The winner’s side would prevail over the army of the loser. Goliath was very arrogant, too; he believed that no one could beat him. And he issued his challenge for 40 days!! Every day he flaunted his size and his strength. Isn’t that just like the enemy? Giants of fear and worry, of depression and anger and doubt – they taunt us day and night to cause us to focus on the problem instead of the ultimate solution—God. Sometimes the giant is a person; other times it’s a circumstance.

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