God's Plan or Your Plan???

Today's treasure is found in Acts 21:1-14..... Take a few minutes and read this passage. .....Good, now let's examine a few verses....

Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (vss. 12-13)

What do we do when others do not understand the ways of the Lord? How are we to handle those who in their innocence actually oppose the will of God for us? It does happen and it actually happens more often than we realize!

Paul had arrived in Caesarea and was visiting with one of the fellow believers in their home when God supernaturally directed a prophet named Agabus to foretell that Paul would be taken captive in Jerusalem and handed over to the Gentiles. When that happened, a few well intentioned brothers stepped up and begged Paul NOT to go to Jerusalem. Do you find that strange? Does it seem difficult for you to see that God may intend for HIS children to go through difficulty, struggle or even death???

In our selfish, pleasure seeking christian culture of today we often do not embrace this concept. As one dear senior saint said to me once (and I loved it by the way) "Christians spend more time praying Christians out of heaven than they do sinners out of hell." WOW!! What a powerful and true statement. We are so preoccupied with OUR agenda's that we fail to see a much bigger picture.......God's Plan for our lives!!!

And YES it does include being bound in Jerusalem for the glory of God!!! The disciples did not see the BIG picture but thankfully Paul had a vision that went far beyond the immediacy of the moment, far beyond his personal comfort or protection. His GOD was big, Big, I mean REAL BIG!!! Paul was honest in stating that his brothers were breaking his heart, humanly speaking. But he then directed them to God's purpose for him. TOTAL SURRENDER of his life to GOD!!!

I love his response and what the scriptures record of his devotion to Christ.... We find that in verse 14....

So when he WOULD NOT be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "the Lord's will be done."

First, Paul would not let his well intentioned brothers sway his commitment to his Lord! No amount of persuasion would deter him from living his life in simple obedience to God's call upon his life. He would not budge! I wish more of us had that much "stick um" when it comes to the things God wants from us. Far too many today are just looking for a reason to NOT fulfill God's call or plan for them. Almost any excuse will do. But not our beloved Paul!! He did not give in! Notice what happened....

Secondly, when the brothers saw they could not change his mind (or heart by the way, cause this is a heart issue) they gave up and submitted to the will of the LORD!!! They were strengthened by his commitment to and faith in the Lord!!! As a matter of Biblical fact if you read a bit further, some of the brethren from Caesarea actually went with him to Jerusalem. They joined with Paul in God's journey!!!

How about you? Has God called you to His work? Others not understand? Others not agree? Welcome to an exclusive club! Our church fathers, like our Savior, were often misunderstood. They just wanted to follow the Lord in simple obedience and it did not line up with the plans of others. It often wasn't logical! It frequently was outside the bounds of reason. Yet they followed! They obeyed and God's work went forward! HE accomplished HIS work.

Let me say this, souls hang in the balance. The souls of men, women, boys and girls, many of whom we have yet to meet. Whether you realize this or not, Paul did wind up being arrested, imprisoned and turned over to the Gentiles. Ultimately he wound up chained to a Roman soldier throughout his day under house arrest. Before it was over, Roman soldiers had come to faith in Christ.

Imagine a believer being chained to an unbeliever for a period of time. For some of you that would be terror. For those of us who long to see the lost come to faith in Christ this would be a divine appointment! A God ordained opportunity that we have been presented with. ( I would probably just sing hymns all the time, or quote scriptures and see what his response would be) What would you do??

This all was made possible because Paul refused to be swayed away from God's plan for his life even when others did not agree nor understand. I am not convinced that he knew the whole plan but I am convinced he was totally surrendered to God's plan for his life!!!!

ARE YOU????

The field is still white to harvest!

Blessings
Bruce

Can You smell anything???

I recently read an article where some folks were out of town on business and while there, they apparently did some things that were.....shall we say....inappropriate. Needless to say when they returned home to their normal lives, the deeds were exposed and they were promptly fired from their jobs. WOW! What were they thinking???

Often times we fail to think things through when it comes to our sin. We don't consider the consequences of our behavior patterns until they begin to cause problems. I found a little treasure in God's word with this in mind....

Dead flies putrefy the perfumer's ointment, and cause it to give off a foul odor; So does a little folly to one respected for wisdom and honor. Ecclesiastes 10:1

Sometimes we can get away with "questionable" attitudes and behaviors as long as they don't "smell," but once they begin to cause problems then we have to deal with them. My question is...why wait? Why do we not bring our hearts and minds to God and let HIM change us before these behaviors begin to stink??? Wouldn't that make sense, to keep us from the damages that may result?

Perhaps you have an anger issue, or an issue of unforgiveness with someone. Maybe you tell "little" white lies (they are all black in God's eyes) or think you are clever enough to simply deceive your way around. Could there be a skeleton in your closet, a secret sin that no one knows but you........and may I remind you.....GOD! If we will not deal with "OUR" issues then one day they will begin to stink and then we will have to get it right or lose to learn.

Those that lost their jobs cannot blame their plight on their trip as many try to shift blame. But must honestly look into the mirror of truth and realize that our character issues come to best light when no none else is looking. They never envisioned the cost of their lapse in wisdom and judgement. They do now however!!!

So who are you when no one else is around? What do you listen to and watch? What about the internet when no one is there to monitor? When your parents aren't around and you are off with your date? Deal with it now before God......before it begins to stink, and much like a skunk, if you wait till then ....all will catch a wiff of the fragrance of your sin!

Blessings
Bruce