Tuesday, December 2, 2008

"Did You Ask?"

"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3

Someone who I am close to has been calling me for weeks to help give them some advice for a situation they are in. They have a decision to make and the time is getting short- they have to make it within just a matter of days. I asked her yesterday what was she hearing from the Lord in prayer about this matter. She told me that she really hasn't prayed about it. This amazes me! She is a very godly woman and even teaches the Bible-- the same Bible that tells her not to lean to her own understanding but to acknowledge the Lord in all her ways; the same Bible that says that it's not in a man to direct his own steps; the same Bible that says that there is a way that seems right unto a man but the end is destruction; the same Bible that says, "Without Me, you can do nothing."

There is a two-fold message in this word this morning: 1) Be a doer of the word and not a hearer only. It does you no good to just know what it says, be able to quote it or teach it's principals to others. The benefit is in the application- in doing what it says, acting upon it, following it's instructions. The second is- you should never try to make decisions without the council of God. My friend keeps asking me what she should do-- I don't have any more of a clue than she does unless I seek the Lord for an answer. We (none of us) just don't know what's the best thing to do, we just don't have the answers, we just cannot make wise decisions on our own, we are so finite- confined to the knowledge of the moment- unable to see down the road, see the outcome or see the avenues that are hidden from our view. So it's no wonder she doesn't know what to do--- "you have not, because you ask not".

Let me combine the two messages into one word briefly: Look to God's word and apply it to every situation and decision you are faced with- no matter how big or small it may be- because you don't have what it takes to make the right choices on your own.... but He does, and He will show you as you "seek Him first."

Have a great day. Are you trying to make decisions on your own? You can't do it!

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