When A Man's Ways Please The Lord

To Please: to make (someone) happy or satisfied; to make a choice about what to do, have, etc.

The Bible says, "When a man's ways please the Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Proverb 16-7). Today, let's spend a little time talking about Joshua and how he pleased the Lord. Joshua's life is a great example for us to follow and he left a profound legacy for each of us. Joshua was faithful to the Lord and his faithfulness kept the children of Israel faithful all his life. We need to be sure that we are living our lives more like Joshua - setting a good example for our children, our employees, our co-workers, and our fellow Christians.

As a result of his faithfulness, Joshua had favor with God. If we do what Joshua did, we will get the same results he got ("same God right now, same God back then" right?!). The Lord told him in Joshua 1:8, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

It's obvious that Joshua did as the word said, he was focused and obedient. We can see that by the way he went out to fight a battle. The Bible tells us that God fought for them. It also tells us of how the Lord cast down great hailstones from heaven upon their enemies, and how Joshua had favor with the Lord, so much so that when they were fighting in battle that "he said in the sight of all Israel, Sun stand thou still upon Gibeon and thou, moon in the valley of Ajalon." And my friends, the sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies (Joshua 10:11-13).

We may not be fighting a physical war, but we've all got some sort of battle going on - on the inside and on the outside. Some of those battles might be small and some probably feel like giants, but just as the Lord fought for Joshua and Israel - He will bless, fight, and protect us, but of course - we must stay the course! We do this by staying in His word and meditating on it day and night. We must also ask  for directions and be obedient when He directs us; i.e. we must accept the assignment He gives us. When we are pleasing unto Him, He will make our way prosperous. Remember, the walls of Jericho fell down with just praises unto God!

I’m sure that some of those in the battle were worried and that some were afraid, but the Lord took down every giant and there were no survivors. We can experience that same success and overcome our battles when our ways please the Lord. Whatever your battle might be, the Lord is saying the same to us as he said to Joshua - be strong and be courageous!

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN! 

Jesus Take the Wheel!

Independent: Free from the control of others

Satisfaction: Anything which brings about a happy feeling

As believers of Christ we can't always be in the driver's seat; sometimes we have to take a backseat to the one that owns the car! Keep in mind that the Lord doesn't just own the car - He owns everything in Heaven, on Earth and even beneath the Earth! If He can handle all of that, I feel pretty comfortable saying that He can handle being in the driver's seat of our car or situation. So why don't we ride gracefully on the back seat and just be thankful that we are in the car!

We certainly don't want the results that King Herod got when he tried to drive. Acts 12:21-23 says,

“And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them.  And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.”

King Herod TRIED to take the driver's seat and you can see what happened! As God said in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another.” We must take heed and remember to give the credit to its rightful owner.

My friends, it's not our wisdom, our strength, or by our power that the Lord has allowed us to obtain things in this world. It's only through His love, His grace, and His mercy that we have these things. I'm thankful for a loving God who knows how to give good things to His children. In turn, we should bless His name and tell others of His love. He wants us to shine - not so we can take the credit, though - but so that others can see Him through us. Let us be reminded that it's God who gives us the power to obtain wealth and wisdom, and God who gives us the ability to do whatever we are going to do.

On the other hand, Abraham is a wonderful example of the way the Lord desires us to be. Genesis 14:17-20 tell us that when Abraham returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, he blessed the most high God as the one who had given him the strength and energy to win the battle and to become victorious over the enemy. He didn't get all puffed up or boastful as if he was triumphant all on his own.

Let's be sure to give God the glory for everything and get rid of our independent satisfaction - aka pride - thinking or acting as if we are the ones who made us successful. Let's give the Lord what he solely deserves - praise and glory. Remember: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5)!

With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!

                                                                                                              

Walk the Walk of a Believer!

Worthy: Deserving admiration or honor

Ephesians 4:1 tells us, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation where with ye are called." In other words, Paul is begging us to live a life worthy of the divine purpose to which we have been called, with behavior that is pleasing to God. Verses 22-24 of the same chapter tells us that the Lord's desire for us is that we "...put off concerning the former conversation [or behavior] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed [or reestablish] in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." The Lord desires us to have a personal relationship with Him - one of praise and thanksgiving and He wants us to have an upright walk with Him. When the Lord sees us walking worthy of our calling (i.e. that of a believer), He honors it and shows great mercy and favor toward us.

As an example, let's take a look at Samuel's walk before the Lord. He walked upright and the Lord was pleased with him. When Samuel prayed for something, he had great influence with the Lord - wouldn't it be AMAZING to have that kind of influence?! When the Philistines invaded Israel, Samuel prayed for God to intervene and "...the Philistines were subdued and they came no more into the coast of Israel; and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel" (1 Samuel 7:13). Samuel chose to take a stand with God and to walk worthy before Him, just as we must do. The word also says in 1 Samuel 3:19 that "none of his words fall to the ground," in other words when Samuel spoke it - God heard it and acted upon it. Now how awesome is that?!

Walking worthy of our calling pays great dividends, but of course, we have to do our part. As Ephesians 4:31-32 reminds us, "Let all bitterness, and wrath and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you; with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you." This is obviously what Samuel had working in his life, because the Lord honored him. You and I can also have this same favor working in our lives if we keep the Lord first and if we walk worthy of our calling. As the song says, "if He did it before, He'd do it again. Same God right now, same God back then!"

With all that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

Plan Now, Reap the Benefits Later!

Good Morning Friends! We thought we would go a little old-school today and remind everyone of the importance of a plan. If you don’t have a spiritual plan in place and oxygen is still flowing through your body, it’s not too late to develop one! Be encouraged and be blessed!

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Plan: Method for achieving something; to have in mind as an intention or purpose

Works: The action or labor required to accomplish something

Jesus has the Master Plan; His works and plans were finished before the foundation of the world. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, "For I know the thoughts <plans> that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jesus has a plan for us - now it's up to us to have one as well.

If you were building a house, you would have a blueprint, right? Every day you would go over your plans so you would know where the walls were supposed to go, where the closets should be and where those all-important bathrooms would be. How much more do we need a spiritual plan?

God's works and plans are already within us, we just need to pull them out. We can do that by:

1) Planning to make Jesus first in our lives by seeking Him early each day. Isaiah tells us to seek Him early while he may be found and call upon him while He is yet near.

2) Planning to spend time in His Word every day because His Word is our blueprint; our roadmap. If we don't faithfully refer to our blueprint, how will we know what the Lord's expectations of us are? How will we know how He wants us to live our lives? How will we know where to put our walls up to successfully shut out the enemy? We need our roadmap to teach us how to love and show love; how to be thankful and grateful and how to forgive. Simply put - His Word shows us how to get back to Him.

3) As we are told in I Thessalonians 5:17, we must plan to "pray without ceasing." Prayer is our communication with the Lord - would we go months without communicating with our best friends or spouses? No, we're typically communicating with them as often as we can - whether they want to hear from us or not! The Lord actually wants to hear from us, so we need to take every opportunity we have to speak with Him.

Our works are to believe in Him, as His works were to believe in the Father that sent Him. As the scriptures tell us - He did nothing without the Father - and we are to do nothing without Him. 

When our spiritual plans are in place, our natural plans will be added unto us.

                                                                                                                                    

With all that said, let the church say amen… and AMEN!