The ‘Straight Path” Described

a worship liturgy by Ruth Wilkinson

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

So, what is a straight path? Today we read through some passages from the Bible that help us understand what that means.

A straight path follows after Jesus.

Whoever keeps His word, in that person the love of God is truly complete. This is how we know we are in Him: The one who says they live in Him should walk just as He walked.

1 John 2:5-6

A straight path leads to healthy relationships.

Once you walked in anger, rage, meanness, gossip, filthy language and lying.
But now, walk in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting and forgiving each another.

Colossians 3:7-9, 12-13 

A straight path leads to doing good in the world.

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

A straight path leads to life.

There is life in the path of righteousness, but another path leads to death.

Proverbs 12:28

The Lord said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways so they will not enter My rest.”

Hebrews 3:10-11

But He will enter into peace everyone who lives uprightly.

Isaiah 57:2

He makes our paths straight through each other’s guidance.

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6  

He makes our paths straight through giving us wisdom.

Wisdom holds long life in her right hand; in her left, riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peace.

Proverbs 3:16-18

He makes our paths straight through giving us discernment.

I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow Your word. You Yourself have instructed me. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

Psalms 119:101-105

He makes our paths straight through the companionship of the Spirit.

He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me.

Psalm 23:3

He makes our paths straight through being our example.

Make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.

Psalms 25:4-5

He makes our paths straight through setting us free from the ruts that lead to death.

I will always obey Your instruction, forever and ever. I will walk freely in an open place because I seek Your precepts.

Psalm 119:44-45

He makes our paths straight through correcting us when we go wrong.

Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21

He makes our paths straight by making his commandments clear.

Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Walking a straight path sounds simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. The principle we find in this proverb doesn’t promise that our road won’t go uphill and downhill, or through shadowy valleys.

It simply and joyfully reminds us that as we travel, as we “walk by faith, not by sight”, we don’t have to figure it out on our own. And that the journey itself is part of our reward.

 

 

 

Caretakers of God’s Gifts | Doing God’s Will

A year ago we first shared the writing of Pastor Dick Woodward’s from the blog The Four Spiritual Secrets. His “about” page tells us that,

In 1980 Dick was diagnosed with a degenerative disease of the spinal cord that left him a quadriplegic. In spite of this disease he preached from his wheelchair until 1997, then remained active in his later years as a bedfast quadriplegic in small groups, mentoring, and writing Bible study materials and books through voice activated software until his death at the age of 83 in March of 2014. He often said, “The less I can do, the more the Lord does.”

Material is posted to his page regularly. Because these are shorter we have two devotional articles for you today, and the header for each is also a link to the blog.

God’s Business vs. Our Business

“Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful… And what do you have that you did not receive? (1 Corinthians 4:2,7)

The biblical word “steward” is not fully understood or appreciated. It is actually one of the most important words in the New Testament. A synonym for this word is “manager.” Many people believe this word primarily relates to a person’s money, but that application falls far short of the essential meaning of this word.

When Paul asks the probing question, “And what do you have that you did not receive?” he is telling us that our stewardship applies to everything we have received from God. This means our time, energy, gifts and talents, our health and all the things that make up the essence of our very lives, including all of our money and possessions.

At the age of 65 one of my best friends had what he refers to as a “halftime” experience when he came to fully appreciate this word “steward.” His regular custom was to draw a line down the middle of a legal pad page. On the left side of that line he wrote “My business” while on the right side of the line he wrote “God’s business.”

When he fully appreciated this word “steward” he erased that line because, as a wealthy businessman, he realized it was all God’s business.

Remember, the important thing about a steward is that we be found faithful. Do you realize there is nothing in your life you did not receive from God? Do you know that you are to faithfully manage everything you have received from God?

Are you willing to erase the line between what is yours and what is God’s?

Walking with Jesus: Doing & Knowing!

“This is how we know we are in Him: whoever claims to live in Him must walk even as Jesus walked.” (1 John 2:5-6)

In the first sixteen verses of his short letter, the Apostle John gives us a prescription for fullness in seven parts: facts, faith, forgiveness, fellowship, follow-ship, fruitfulness, and fullness.

John’s facts are the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we have faith to believe the first fact we have forgiveness. When we believe the second the result is fellowship with the risen Christ. By changing one letter in the word “fellowship” to “follow-ship,” I have come up with the key to John’s prescription for fullness: you will know that you know when you walk as Jesus walked.

This word follow-ship is also a key to the fullness emphasized by Jesus. His covenant with the apostles was “Follow Me and I will make you.” (Matthew 4:19) The most important part of the Great Commission occurred when Jesus commissioned the disciples to make disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20) A synonym for discipleship is apprenticeship. Jesus apprenticed the apostles and He commissioned them to apprentice disciples.

The Gospel of John Chapter 7 records a great claim of Jesus when He declared that His teaching is the teaching of God. Jesus also proclaimed we prove that when we do what He teaches. (John 7:17) According to Jesus the doing leads to the knowing. Intellectuals have claimed for millenniums that the knowing will lead to the doing, but Jesus said “When you do you will know.”

Are you willing to do that you might know the Word of God?

End of Life Revisions

(It’s a play on “end of life decisions.” Makes more sense after you read the article.)

As I said yesterday, Christianity 201 has been blessed over the years to feature Elsie Montgomery who writes at the blog Practical Faith. She is faithful in writing and consistent in terms of the content of what she posts. I’ve broken a rule here and have re-posted some recent things from her blog both yesterday and today. Visit the blog and click the headers for individual articles.

To-do list for old timers (and newcomers too)

Bette Midler once said regarding her body, “After fifty, it’s just maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.” Those in that age bracket will agree. However, I try not to focus on the state of my body since this is too easy the topic of conversation for us seniors. It tends to fill my head with a ‘me’ focus that is not healthy for my spiritual life.

At the end of 2 Peter, this disciple writes about focus as God’s people wait for the end of life and the return of Jesus Christ. He puts the focus on my spiritual state and gives me some practical assignments . . .

Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him . . . You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . . (2 Peter 3:14–18)

Be found by Him without spot or blemish. This isn’t about freckles or pimples but about sin. No one is sinless in this life, but keeping short accounts is possible. That is, God wants me to confess and forsake any sinful and selfish attitudes and actions as soon as I realize they are present. The benefits include continual fellowship with God and His people, having a child-like humility and attitude toward life, and a good night’s sleep!

Be at peace. No worrying. How is that even possible? For me, it means trusting the Lord with everything, and to do that, I must believe in His love and power. He is sovereign over this world and all that is in it. If not, I’d be in a stew about everything because nearly everything seems to be coming unraveled. Trusting the Lord means being able to take my burdens to Him and leave them in His care. I cannot do that without firmly believing He hears me and will answer my prayers. His answers may not be what I expect, but trust isn’t concerned about my thoughts and opinions, only about His loving wisdom.

Count patience as salvation. Peter also said that I’m to consider patience as a huge factor in salvation. Impatience is me trying to run things my way — and that is the essence of sin. Patience is evidence of faith, of knowing God is taking care of things and being okay with that. It is not an anxious ‘wait and see’ but a settled and peaceful yielding to His will.

Don’t get carried away. Spiritual maintenance includes standing firm on what I believe, not carried away by the teaching of those who have no regard for the basic principles of faith. The foundations of trust and obey, of knowing and believing, are the firm places. I don’t need to study error to know it — I only need to study truth.

Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Last but not least I am to grow by studying Him, spending time with Him. Listening. Following His leading. Seeking His face. Reviewing and remembering His words. Doing whatever is necessary to deepen my relationship with this man who is God — who saved me for all eternity!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, this is simple stuff for this old-timer, basic for those who are new to the faith, yet powerful. Doing the will of God is not as challenging as wanting to do the will of God. I must want to abandon the habits and old sinful ways and dictates of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Keep me close as I desire to stay close. I love You and want to bring You glory in this life and in the life to come!

Today’s thankful list . . .

– having basics to keep me growing and in God’s will.
– faith is practical!
– a good workout at the gym.
– motion detector light switches.
– time for a much-needed nap this afternoon.
– chicken tacos and salt-free chips.

 

He Makes Our Path Straight

a worship liturgy by Ruth Wilkinson

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

So, what is a straight path? Today we read through some passages from the Bible that help us understand what that means.

A straight path follows after Jesus.

Whoever keeps His word, in that person the love of God is truly complete. This is how we know we are in Him: The one who says they live in Him should walk just as He walked.

1 John 2:5-6

A straight path leads to healthy relationships.

Once you walked in anger, rage, meanness, gossip, filthy language and lying.
But now, walk in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, accepting and forgiving each another.

Colossians 3:7-9, 12-13 

A straight path leads to doing good in the world.

For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

A straight path leads to life.

There is life in the path of righteousness, but another path leads to death.

Proverbs 12:28

The Lord said, “They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known My ways so they will not enter My rest.”

Hebrews 3:10-11

But He will enter into peace everyone who lives uprightly.

Isaiah 57:2

He makes our paths straight through each other’s guidance.

Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6  

He makes our paths straight through giving us wisdom.

Wisdom holds long life in her right hand; in her left, riches and honour. Her ways are pleasant, and all her paths are peace.

Proverbs 3:16-18

He makes our paths straight through giving us discernment.

I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow Your word. You Yourself have instructed me. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

Psalms 119:101-105

He makes our paths straight through the companionship of the Spirit.

He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me.

Psalm 23:3

He makes our paths straight through being our example.

Make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation.

Psalms 25:4-5

He makes our paths straight through setting us free from the ruts that lead to death.

I will always obey Your instruction, forever and ever. I will walk freely in an open place because I seek Your precepts.

Psalm 119:44-45

He makes our paths straight through correcting us when we go wrong.

Whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”

Isaiah 30:21

He makes our paths straight by making his commandments clear.

Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

Walking a straight path sounds simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. The principle we find in this proverb doesn’t promise that our road won’t go uphill and downhill, or through shadowy valleys.

It simply and joyfully reminds us that as we travel, as we “walk by faith, not by sight”, we don’t have to figure it out on our own. And that the journey itself is part of our reward.

 

 

 

The Mary/Martha Dichotomy Isn’t About Busyness

Psalm 27:4
One thing I have asked of the LORD, this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.

Despite the hundreds of authors featured here, I have only two devotionals which I personally subscribe to, and one which I read online. One of the daily emails is titled “Breakfast of Champions” by Andy and Gina Elmes. To get these sent to you by email, go to Great Big Life and click on Breakfast of Champions.

Don’t miss what she says here about posture. It’s a part of the Mary/Martha story that’s so obvious we can totally miss it. Especially at Christmas, when we’re all so very… busy!

The posture of a listening heart

Luke 10:42, The Truth version
Only one thing is really important and this is what Mary is doing. So I won’t deprive her of what is most important: to listen to what I say!

by Gina Elmes
My 10-year-old daughter was given a really unique devotional which she asked if I would read with her at night before bed. The book teaches how to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and to listen out for the often still, small voice of God. It is a highly interactive devotional, filled with exercises in listening for God’s voice. We began reading this book and then we would come to the interactive part where we speak to God and ask Him a question such as, “Who do I need to encourage tomorrow, Lord, and what would you like me to say to them?” Then we wait for a few minutes listening to what the Lord says to our heart.

My daughter and I would close our eyes and we would wait, and my head was so full of the stuff of the day that I found this exercise really difficult! I had plans and lists and ‘to do’ stuff and recipes and ‘don’t forget’s’ all flying around inside my chaotic mind that I found it hard to listen for the voice of God. My daughter, on the other hand, would hardly close her eyes when she would say, “I’m done! He talked to me and I know just who needs encouragement and I know what I need to tell them.”

Night after night this happened and the things she was hearing from God were amazing, and I was struggling to hear anything. I was reflecting on this one morning when I recalled Luke 10:38-42, which gives the account of Mary and Martha. Martha was the busy one preparing the meal and getting everything perfect for her guests, and Mary was found sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to all He had to say. The more I read this account the more I realize it is not so much about lessening our busy schedules as much as it is about the posture of our listening heart.

I have so many responsibilities and I can’t see that changing any time soon, but I can learn better to incline my ear to His voice wherever I am and whatever I’m doing. Somebody in the Mary/Martha scenario had to cook lunch after all! Jesus isn’t advocating laziness, but He is commending Mary’s desire to be always listening to Him and this will always be the better part of anything we do. Somehow, in the busy-ness of life, I had lost the posture of a listening heart; forgetting that God desires to have a relationship with me all day, not just in the moments I call ‘quiet time’. Now, when I’m busy with the everyday stuff of life, I use these opportunities to talk to God and for Him to talk to me.

I still set regular times for myself to solely focus on God but now even when driving, cooking, walking the dog, cleaning out a closet, these have all become opportunities for me to lift my ear to heaven and hear the One who desires an audience with me, and I have found that I can learn to hear Him over the loudness of everyday life when I make a practice of purposely posturing my heart to hear Him.

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Learn more about the UK ministry Great Big Life.

Knowing God’s Will in the Absence of a Direct Message

Last year at this time we introduced you to California pastor Brian Loritts, author of Saving the Saved. We decided to track him down again this year at his blog and found this helpful teaching. Click on the title to read at source.

When I Don’t Hear From God…

Every last one of us has asked the question, What’s next? High school students trying to figure out where to go for college have asked this question. So have college students trying to lock in on a major (80% will change majors at least once), along with singles who are in a dating relationship and married people needing to discern when to have kids and how many. While these questions defy any unique faith category, Christians have historically filed these under the heading of the will of God. “God, what are you saying?,” we groan when faced with life’s proverbial forks in the road.

But this very question now sparks an age-old theological debate. While Christ followers contend that Christ does speak, we can be at odds over the method. Sure God’s primary voice is the Word of God, but does He also speak audibly? Garry Friesen’s, Decision Making and the Will of God, is weighted towards the no, while the title to Dallas Willard’s, Hearing God, let’s you know where he stands on the question.

If you’re looking for an answer to whether you should attend Stanford or Morehouse, marry Shiela or break up with her or take the out-of-state job, you just won’t find a chapter or verse in the Bible that will give you that answer. So what are we to do when faced with these decisions? I’ve found the following steps to be helpful:

Step One: Ask Him

In John 10, Jesus describes himself as “The Door” and “The Good Shepherd.” The metaphor of “The Door” points to salvation—how one gets into the sheepfold of the flock of God. The metaphor of “The Good Shepherd” depicts Jesus’ relationship with His sheep once they’re in. Then Jesus says, “When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice” (John 10:4).  The Greek word for know is an intuitive knowledge, like the kind of knowing I had when after a few months of dating Korie I just knew she was going to be my wife. Or the kind of knowing one has when they meet someone for the first time and just know something’s not right.  It’s that knowledge the sheep have when their shepherd speaks. Do you see what’s being implied here? The Shepherd is speaking long after the sheep have come through the door (of salvation). Jesus speaks.

A few chapters later, Jesus pictures the Holy Spirit as our guide. Now what does a guide do? He speaks. When I was a little boy, my father taught me the timeless principles of fishing—things like how to bait a hook, cast and reel. A few years ago, I went on a fishing trip where I hired a guide. All he did was take the basic truths I’d learned of fishing and he showed me how to apply them in specific places at specific times so that I had great success. This is how the Holy Spirit works with the Word. The Word gives us the timeless principles, and the Holy Spirit—our guide—shows us how to apply them in specific ways. We just need to ask Him.

Step Two: Use Wisdom

In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard tells the story of a preacher who was out in the middle of a field late one night, and he couldn’t see. The field was full of rocks which made his journey treacherous. Several times he heard someone calling his name. Finally, he stopped and felt around. It was a good thing he did this. A few more feet and he would have died. Oh, by the way, he never saw the person who was speaking to him, and concluded it had to have been God.

Can I confess to you that this rarely happens to me. Maybe a handful of times in my whole life have I heard the voice of God in this way. The normal pattern for me is that I pray and ask God to speak into something, and I don’t hear anything. Now what?

There’s a whole section of the Bible called Wisdom Literature. Books like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and several others make up this genre of Scripture. Wisdom is skillful living.  It’s practically applying the timeless principles of Scripture to the specific scenarios of every day life. Now this is interesting, because embedded in the very idea of wisdom is choice.

By the end of this year, my boys will be teenagers, and what I’m trying to do, the older they get, is to not tell them exactly what they need to do. Hard, I know. I think good parenting empowers children to make age appropriate decisions. I also think this is how God parents us. A sign of immaturity is the need to be told exactly what to do in every situation. It’s the mature person who can make decisions within certain parameters.

So, when I don’t hear from God, I take that as God saying, make a decision. Now I know this will rub some of you the wrong way, because you think God needs to speak into every decision you make. But can I ask you a question? Did you pray about what pants to wear today? Or if you should wear pants at all? Did you pray about brushing your teeth, or where to get gas? Of course you didn’t, and you shouldn’t. We make decisions every day, wise ones. It’s the child who needs to be told to brush his teeth. The mature person doesn’t. Again, when you don’t hear anything from God, make the decision, a wise one.  But how do we do that?

Step Three: Figure Out the Fences

Imagine your child asks you if she can play in the backyard. You say, “yes,” but a few minutes later she comes in and says can I play on the slide? You agree. A few minutes later she asks if it’s okay to play on the swing set? “Of course,” you say. Then she asks comes back in moments later and asks if she can play in the sandbox. You look your sweet daughter in the face and tell her your will is she plays within the fences of the backyard, and she can make whatever decision she wants as long as its within those fences.

The same holds true for us. I think it’s good to ask God about our “sandboxes,” but when we don’t hear an answer we have to figure out the fences—those biblical parameters—that will help us make a decision. So, for example, when thinking through a job situation, it’s always helpful to process these fences: 1. Will the job contribute to the common good of society; 2. Will it allow me to provide for my family (As a man this is my call); and 3. Has God given me the gifts and capacity to meet the demands of the job? While there are more questions we could ask, these are the fences. Now we are free to choose.

“For This Purpose I Have Come”

Its time for our annual visit to Steven C. Mills of Steve’s Bible Meditations.  Click the title below to read this at source.

Why? – John 12:27

“Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!” (John 12:27, NLT).

Recently, I’ve been reading Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why. The premise of the book is that successful leaders influence loyalty to a product, movement or idea because they communicate why their organizations exist. According to Sinek, knowing your why is more important than  knowing what you do or how you do it. And, knowing your why will help you know what to do and how to do it.

So, apply this on a personal level. What’s your why? Why do you exist? Why do you do what you do?

In a conversation in John 12 that Jesus had with some of His disciples concerning His impending death, He seemed to be very aware of His Why. He knew exactly why He existed and why He did what He did.

Some God-fearing Gentiles (Greeks) approached Philip and asked if he would introduce them to Jesus. Jesus had, heretofore, focused His ministry on the Jews and had only occasional interactions with Gentiles. Philip told Andrew about the Greeks’ request and Philip and Andrew went to Jesus to ask Jesus to meet with the Greeks.

It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t consent to meet with these Gentiles. Rather, He made it a teachable moment to announce to His disciples a change of direction in His ministry. Instead of continuing to heal the sick and teach and preach to the Jews about the coming kingdom of God, Jesus declared that His ministry will now become a matter of sacrificing His own life so all people, Jews and Gentiles, can enter into God’s coming Kingdom.

But, He seemed to express some hesitancy at first. Although He knew the reason He had come–to die for the sins of the world–maybe there was another way. Perhaps there was an easier way to save the world besides suffering a torturous death.

But, I don’t think He was really hesitant. I don’t think He believed there might be easier way. I think these expressions of doubt were really expressions of resolution.

Jesus absolutely knew what He had to do. Because He knew His Why!

He knew without a doubt His reason for living…and for dying.

The Apostle Paul also knew His why:

“Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning” (Ephesians 3:8-9, NLT).

So, what’s your why? Why did God create you? What did He call you to do? And, how are you going do it?

Find out your why. Ask God why He created you. Ask Him what is the purpose of your life.

Then, when you’re clear about the why, you can pursue the what and God will empower you to accomplish the how.

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. (Colossians 1:9-10, NLT)

Recognizing God’s Voice (2)

We continue with some wisdom from Rick Warren’s blog: (click the section headers to read at source)

The Third Test

“God’s intent is that through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” Ephesians 3:10 (NIV)

God has not meant for anyone to go through life alone. He made us to live in relationship with other people. So when it comes to hearing God’s voice, you need to listen to the people around you. You need a church family and a small group to confirm whether what you sense God directing you to do is true or not. This is the third test question: Are there other people who can confirm what I believe God is saying to me?

If God has genuinely spoken to you, he will confirm it through other mature believers. This idea that we have to do everything on our own is an American idea, not God’s. He wants you to share your idea with others for confirmation and listen to their feedback.

And if you feel resistance to the thought of even asking somebody else about your idea, that should be a huge red flag that the idea did not come from God.

The reason God tells us to get advice is because he wants to save us from a lot of things. As it says in Proverbs 11:9, “The wisdom of the righteous can save you” (GNT).

Advice from other mature believers can save you time wasted doing the wrong thing. It can save you from wasting money. It can save your reputation. It can save you from making mistakes.

One of the main reasons people mess up their lives is that they have no godly friends to give them feedback. That is why it is so important to be in a small group with fellow believers who can hold you accountable and give you advice.

The Bible says, “In the multitude of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14b KJV). If you are not in a small group, you are skating on thin ice and you don’t know when you might fall through.

The Fourth Test

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

The fourth test for confirming a word from God is to ask yourself, “Is it consistent with how God shaped me?”

At Saddleback Church, we use the acronym SHAPE to describe the collection of a person’s Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experiences. These five things make you unique from everyone else in the world. They also reveal your purpose in life.

A lot of people ignore their SHAPE and end up wasting millions of dollars going after pipe dreams, starting businesses and making plans they weren’t shaped to do. God will never lead you a way that is inconsistent with your SHAPE. If you have a musical ability, you should use it. But if you’re tone deaf and can’t carry a tune, you shouldn’t try out for American Idol.

Romans 12:6 says, “God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well” (LB). So ask yourself, “What do I love to do that I’m good at doing?” Note that I didn’t just say, “What do you love to do?”

Before I became a pastor, I was a worship leader. I played guitar and loved to sing, but nobody liked hearing me. So I learned pretty quickly that while I had a passion for music, I didn’t have the talent for it. I loved it, but I wasn’t good at it.

You discover a lot of God’s will simply by looking at what you are good at. And if you get an impression that makes you wonder if it’s from God, but it leads you completely contrary to your SHAPE, then it’s not from God. You can know that for a fact. God is not going to ask you to do something he hasn’t given you the ability to do.

Learn more about your SHAPE through S.H.A.P.E.: Finding and Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life by Erik Rees

 

Only Visiting This Planet

On Sunday our sermon had a “passport” theme. One of the central points was that we’re just visitors, or what the Bible calls “strangers and aliens.”

^{NLT Phil. 1:21} For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. ²² But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. ²³ I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. ²⁴ But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

²⁵ Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. ²⁶ And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

^27aAbove all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ…

^{NLT 1 Peter 2:10} “Once you had no identity as a people;
    now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
    now you have received God’s mercy.”

¹¹ Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

At one point in the message, the pastor reminded us that we go on vacation we recognize that our “moving in” to a motel or hotel room is at best a 6 or 7 day proposition. We’re not there to stay, we’re just using the room, it’s not our home.  As I let that allegory sink in, it occurred to me that the way to tell if you’re not staying is this:

You don’t rearrange the pictures on the wall.

You might move a table to let you work at your laptop in better light. You might change the chairs around to play a board game. But that’s about it. You have no sense of belonging there. You aren’t going to do any painting or change the carpet.

But so many times we let ourselves get absorbed in activities that basically amount to rearranging the pictures. We allow ourselves to fall into the mindset that this place we call Earth is permanent. We invest so much in this life, and I’m not just speaking financially.

The Reformation Study Bible speaks of these investments as “bodily” desires, or we could use the word physical equally, and notes that the desires of our fallen, sinful nature are always going to be perverted by our sin nature. There’s a reference to Galatians 5:

^{NIV Gal. 5:19} The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Jesus certainly intended us to take a second look at even our concerns for what we would call the necessities of life in Matthew 6:

^{NIV Matt. 6:25} “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

Take a minute to re-read that last verse: “The pagans run after these things.” The IVP New Testament Commentary reminds us:

Some people today associate faith with being able to obtain possessions from God, but Jesus did not even associate it with seeking basic needs from God. Pagans seek those things, he warned (v. 32; compare 5:47; 6:7); we should seek instead God’s kingdom and his righteous will (6:33).

Verse 33 is familiar to everyone here, it references not worrying in light of God’s ability and promise to provide for those necessities.

However “this world is not my home.” A new passport was issued to you when you affirmed Christ’s divinity, His payment for your sin, and your desire to subject your life decisions to His best ways.

Don’t spend too much time and energy concerned about the paintings on the walls.

The Timing of the One who Exists Outside of Time

This is part two from Steven C. Mills of Steve’s Bible Meditations, and again you’re encouraged to read this at source and visit the rest of the blog. If you’re a grandparent, you might also enjoy Steve’s other blog, Poppy’s New Adventure. Click the title below to read today’s devotional at source. If you missed part one, you’ll find it there on July 4th, as well as here yesterday.

 

Wait Training, Part 2: The Inscrutability of God – Isaiah 40:28-29

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power” (Isaiah 40:28-29, NASB).

When we wait upon the Lord, our faith is actually strengthened because the act of waiting develops God’s perspective in us. In other words, it’s Wait Training!

“Waiting upon the Lord” causes you to rise above your present circumstances to get a higher view, a more objective view, a God-view of them. From that vantage point, you can gain perspective about what it is that you are hoping and trusting God to do and thereby develop a better understanding of God’s plans and purposes for you.

When you follow the advice to “wait upon the Lord” (vs. 31), it’s easy to see why you must wait on God to act and to perform His will when you consider it within the context of the previous verses. God is the Everlasting Creator of the universe. Time and space exist only within His Infinite realm (vs. 28). So, He proceeds about the business of performing His will at the perfect pace!

While we can ascertain God’s intentions–His goodness and our redemption–we can’t always perceive His timing. We can only know that because He is the Everlasting Creator of the universe that His timing is perfect. He doesn’t need to hurry up because He’s fallen behind or slow down because He’s gotten ahead. He’s at the right place at the right time doing just the right thing!

But because God is not limited by time and space and we are, He is inscrutable to us. We can’t always know what His timing is nor do we have the capacity or authority to question or mistrust His timing. That’s why we wait on it. That’s why we wait on the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the universe who is always at the right place at the right time doing just the right thing.

Rather than scrutinize God’s timing, we must wait upon and trust in and hope for the One Who Is Inscrutable. Then, our faith is strengthened and we are empowered to do His will!

Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.  (Psalm 27:14, NASB)

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If you missed it, click back to Saturday (August 30th) for the song More Power To Ya by Petra, which really fits this theme.

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Some days I really struggle with the idea that it seems so few Christian writers are willing to try their hand at writing devotional literature.  But six months ago I discovered this page at CBN. It’s good to know that there are others out there who prioritize the gift of encouragement and the gift of teaching and are willing to take the time to write out thoughts that will strengthen and encourage others. If you find yourself looking for something at other times of day, bookmark the page and then ask God to lead you to a particular author and click their name.

God’s Plan for You is Clearly Defined

Susan and Jen take turns writing posts at the blog The Free Slave’s Devotional. Susan posted this one two weeks ago under the title God’s Plan, God’s Will.  I encourage you to click through and look around the rest of the blog.

Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brothers: warn those who are lazy, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always purse what is good for one another and for all.  Rejoice always.  Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. I Thessalonians 5:13-18

I can’t think about being a part of God’s plan without running into the concept of “God’s Will.”  I capitalized that on purpose, because so many Christians, including myself, tend to capitalize it in our hearts.  Surely, we think, God has a plan for me, a specific plan, so I need to spend lots of time worrying and praying over which college to attend, which person to marry, which job to take.  If I don’t get it right, I might be out of “God’s Will.”

But I’m not sure it works that way.  He pretty clearly lays out His Will right in these verses:

1. Be at peace among yourselves
2. Warn the lazy.
3. Comfort the discouraged.
4. Help the weak.
5. Be patient with everyone.
6. Don’t pay back evil with evil.
7. Pursue what is good for one another.
8. Rejoice always.
9. Pray constantly.
10. Give thanks in everything.

Nowhere in there does he say I’ve got to pick the “right” spouse or job or country in which to live.  But rather, wherever I live, wherever I work, I need to treat others around me in these ways.

And if I do, I am joining God in His plan.  When I choose not to repay an evil, I am showing my offender God’s grace – undoubtedly His will for my life and the life of the guy who did me wrong. When I am patient with my children, I am joining God in his plan to rear them to adore a patient God. When I comfort a weeping friend, when I help a struggling student, when I make decisions with others in mind instead of just my own gain – I am following God’s will, joining in his plan.  Who else will comfort that woman if I do not?  It is God’s Will that she be comforted.

The other stuff, the big, life-changing decisions, well, if God has an opinion on those, He’ll certainly let me know.  Sometimes, He does.  But if He doesn’t speak from Heaven, I think I can exercise my right as a daughter of the King. Sometimes, a princess gets to pick whatever she likes best, as long as the choice doesn’t go outside of God’s boundaries found in His Bible.

It’s living in the aftermath of those choices that show whether I am truly following God’s will.  In this job, the one I chose, will I treat my coworkers compassionately?  With this husband, the one I chose, will I put his needs before my own?

Father, may I join you in your plan today, right where I am at. Show me Your Will.

 

Can We Know What God’s Up To?

A year ago we introduced you to the writing of Mary Agrusa and today we pay a return visit to her blog, The Thought Just Occured to Me. As always you’re encouraged to read articles here at their source.

I really like the tension that this short article sets up. We have a verse that presents the idea that God’s ways are beyond anything we can understand, but then we remember in Hosea where it’s written, “So let us follow on to know the Lord.” It reminds me about a statement someone once made about prophecy and the Lord’s return, “We don’t know the day nor the hour, but we can know the times and the seasons.” There is a balance to be found in this tension.

Enjoy reading, You Just Never Know What God’s Gonna Do…Really?

For who has known or understood the mind (the counsels and purposes) of the Lord, so as to guide and instruct (Him) and give Him knowledge? But we have the mind of Christ, the Messiah, and do hold the thoughts (feelings and purposes) of His heart. 1 Corinthians 2:16 Amp.

“You just never know what God’s gonna do!” I’ve heard this from both the pulpit and the pew and bought the lie hook, line and sinker. What God’s going to do will remain a mystery if one never bothers to crack open a bible and find out. The Apostle Paul wrote that believers have the mind of Christ, right now. In Heaven we’ll possess greater understanding of the totality of God’s plans and purposes. We don’t need to wait until we get there to take advantage of the mind of Christ. We can do that now.

God gave us this gift to help us comprehend how He operates. Paul wrote in the verse above that no one is in the position to tell God how to do anything. The mind of Christ helps us align our thought processes with His. It’s easier to get on board with a program when you understand the rationale behind it.

We can know beyond a shadow of a doubt what God will do. What we don’t know is how and when He’ll do it. This is where we get tripped up. If we knew everything in advance (my preference) we would go through life and never exert one ounce of faith. Having things spelled out in intricate detail ahead of time eliminates the one thing that pleases God – faith.

As children, when situations arose, our parents assured us that they’d handle them. They didn’t bother to bore us with details we wouldn’t understand. We’d take their word at face value and consider it done. This is how childlike faith in God operates. The mind of Christ helps us really know personally our Heavenly Father, His character and how He operates. We know what He’ll do and are pleasantly surprised with how He does it.

Don’t believe the religious mumbo-jumbo that God’s ways are beyond comprehension. Dig into His word and discover for yourself how He works. The next time someone tries to tell you that, “You just never know what God’s gonna do,” you can respond, “Really?”

 

Gaining Spiritual Wisdom

Do you have friends who ask you, “How can you believe that?” To try to answer the question intellectually is to bypass an opportunity to testify and say, “In my old life I wouldn’t have believed it either, but in the renewing of my mind I know what the Holy Spirit reveals is truth.” It might not satisfy them as an answer, but it allows that you know that normal logical, deductive or intellectual capacities won’t be able to verify some things we regard as the truths of scripture.

Popular Christian author Neil Anderson (Bondage Breaker, Victory over the Darkenss) has been blogging since January of last year at the Freedom in Christ website. Yesterday he posted this article about Spiritual Wisdom, to which we’ve added the referenced scriptures.

The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, enables us to discern good from evil and live a righteous life. How He does this is difficult for the finite mind to comprehend, but Paul offers some explanation of the process in 1 Cor. 2:6-16.

⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ However, as it is written:

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him—

¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. ¹¹ For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.  ¹⁴ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵ The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,

“Who has known the mind of the Lord
    so as to instruct him?” 

But we have the mind of Christ.

First, the natural person cannot understand spiritual truth. “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (vs. 9). It is humanly impossible to understand the wisdom of God through our natural channels of perception and our limited ability to reason, “but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” (vs. 10a).

Second, the Holy Spirit knows all things and reveals the nature of God and His will. “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (vs. 10b). Third, as believers we have not received the spirit of this world, but we have received the Spirit who is from God. The Spirit makes known to us the things freely given by God. Fourth, we have the mind of Christ, because the very presence of God is within us. Fifth, the Holy Spirit takes words (logos), that are not taught by human wisdom but by the Spirit, and combines (brings together, or explains) them. The original language literally reads, “spirituals with spirituals.” That phrase is translated in the NIV Bible as, “words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truth in spiritual words” (vs. 13b).

Recall that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds

² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2).

Paul says, we are to be made new in the attitudes [literally, the spirit] of our minds

²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; (Ephesians 4:23).

The Holy Spirit discloses to us the mind of Christ as we study God’s Word. The Holy Spirit then enables our thoughts and renews our minds with the Logos. The peace of Christ rules in our hearts as the Words of Christ richly dwell within us

¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.(Col. 3:15,16).

Finally, the peace of God guards our hearts and our minds

⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7).

We may not fully understand how God does this, but we don’t have to in order to believe that He does. Nobody can fully explain the virgin birth of Jesus, the mystery of the incarnation, the Holy Trinity, and the miracle of our new birth, but liberated Christians believe it. When we choose to believe what God says is true the Holy Spirit renews our mind and we begin to understand and see more clearly. Those who refuse to believe God and His word until they fully understand will never fully understand. Those who choose to trust God and live accordingly by faith are blessed and began to understand more fully as they mature in Christ. Thomas saw the resurrected Jesus and believed prompting Jesus to say,

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20: 29).

Is Full-Time Ministry a Higher Calling?

Today’s article is by Paul Burleson, who has been in pastoral ministry for 54 years. It appeared at his blog under the title Is Full Time Ministry a Higher Calling Than Any Other Calling?  (You’ll also find two articles from December 2013 exploding seven specific myths associated with Christmas.)

In Ephesians 4:1 Paul says this….

“Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called….” [the New American Standard Bible (1995)] The King James version uses the word “vocation” but it is better understood as “calling.” It is a reference to the general calling of grace that the first three chapters have described. So all Christians have a “calling” and we’re to walk accordingly.

Roman Catholic writer Michael Novak wrote a book on ‘Business as a Calling’ in which he presented four aspects of a “calling.” [His idea was in the context of business remember.] He said a calling will have …

1) An understanding that it is a personal and unique calling to you….

2) A requirement for the talents needed for the task and a love for the drudgery that may be involved in the task to which you’re called….

3) The presence of an enjoyment for and renewed energies from the doing of the task that is your calling….

4) A period of discernment and testing for [learning all about] the task to which you’re called.

Not bad.

I would think, in the Ephesians 4 context, our calling, which is to the same “Lord” Paul said he was a prisoner of in verse one and that “Lordship” calling is for EVERY true believer, might have the same characteristics about it…

1) It IS personal and unique to each of us…

2) We HAVE been gifted for our Life in Him…

3) There IS joy unspeakable in our life in Him and strength provided for the living of life…

4) We then spend the rest of our lives learning what life is all about by “hearing Him” as commanded of the Father. As I said, not bad!

I would also add what someone else has called a “fifth aspect” of a true calling and it is..

5) An orientation away from self so our goal would be the glory of God and the good of others in all things. That makes it even better.

It is obvious from all this that I believe we as Christians have accepted the universal vocation [calling] of following Christ and Novak’s ideas can be seen as relevant to that task/life.

But… is there in life a calling to a more specific vocation for all of us through which we make a living, provide for our families and, generally, live out our days on earth?

In other words, are we “called” to a career? And if we are, how do we know what we are to do for a career or livelihood? Add to that the question… is the “calling” to “full-time ministry” [career] a GREATER calling than the calling to other careers?

It is this that concept that I’m addressing today.

Since I believe ALL of life is sacred and there is NO division in scripture between the sacred and the secular [See 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.] I think we are to view ANYTHING we choose to do in life as a “calling.” A better way of saying it is we are to see anything we choose to do as an opportunity to “life-out our Lordship calling.” Choose anything you wish, but see it as a commitment to express His life in you and understand that what you do choose is a gift from Him to you.

Someone may be saying “Wait a minute Brother Paul, it sounds like you’re saying we can choose however we wish in matters of life instead of finding God’s specific will in those matters.” I am. The only WILL God has revealed to you and me specifically is that we are to live as what we are…’Sanctified people.” [1 Thess. 4:3 the rest of the chapter shows what that looks like.]

When we are committed to Him as Lord we will reflect that in whatever we choose. Our life is not to be lived trying to find out what He wishes we would do in each decision but, rather, in celebrating who He is as our Lord and making ANY decision accordingly.

So, I say marry whomever you choose, go to whatever University you wish, get whatever degree you desire, and live doing wherever you long to live doing. But in EVERY CHOICE YOU MAKE, see it as that which allows you to be effective for God in this world and bring glory to Him and good for other people. Your vocation or marriage or career or whatever, will only allow you to establish God’s order and virtue in your life and to assist other people to do the same. This is Christianity to me.

This isn’t to say that there isn’t an eternal and secret will that God is working out for us in His Divine Purposes. But it is to say that, by definition, that will is “secret” and we’ll understand in all only in “eternity.” Don’t worry. You won’t miss God in decisions. He really is in control. He’s unique that way.

By the way, as to whether a “calling to full-time ministry” is more sacred than anyone else’s, my answer is NO. It is different. It is unique to the one called. There are greater responsibilities for certain areas of life affected by that calling. But remember, all that is true of every christian’s life, as well in their unique way of living that life in employment. It’s ALL sacred and satisfying and spiritual when He is Lord.

So you obviously can see I believe every christian IS a full-time minister. Some are just placed as gifts to the Body as shepherds/pastors/elders/deacons, recognized by the body as gifts, but all Christians are gifts to and gifted for the Body of Christ in some fashion, [for ministry] and for the living of life however we live it. [Which is what ministry is.] “Whatsoever you do, do ALL to the glory of God.”

By the way, if I’m out in left field with this, don’t tell me. I’m having too much fun out here. ;)

Just kidding!

Do We Make Excuses to Get out of God’s Calling?

This article appeared at Christian Today, a UK Christian news website, and was written by Dick Slikker who lives in Harderwijk and is a consultant for mission projects, see http://www.projectcaremc.org and http://www.lessgodmorecrisis.org …you are encouraged to read this article at source.

The people of Israel were in Egypt in bondage and slavery, and they asked God to deliver them. God did not intervene immediately but he began to look for someone who could be His instrument and in the end, He did so with a baby.

Such a process is not very fast and often takes more time than we want. We sometimes find ourselves asking ‘God can it be a little faster?’. No, God likes to look for a tool or instrument that can carry out His work.

In this case, it was a baby who had to become a leader for the people of Israel and act as God wanted him to – according to His principles. The best training for him was in the court of Pharaoh and so God caused His man, Moses, to land right there and get the best education.

After 40 years, Moses understood that he was God’s chosen instrument to liberate the people of Israel. He saw it all before him (see Acts 7:22-25 and Hebrews 11:24-25), he would liberate Israel, he was to be the big man, wise in words.

But at that moment God saw that Moses was not ready and sent him for 40 years into the desert. It was a time to put into practice what he had learned. There he attended an intensive course on ‘how to survive in the wilderness’. But God also taught him not to trust in his own abilities.

He must have wondered many times how he could be so stupid to forfeit his ministry. Doubt was his greatest companion. Had Moses made a mistake in thinking he would be used by God? ‘I thought I had the training to liberate the people and now I’m right in the sand. Why?’ ‘God can use me and he doesn’t’.

After 40 years of training among the sheep and the desert, Moses no longer feels he has a task from God. His enthusiasm and his horizons have been quenched.

And then God speaks: ‘Moses, now you are finally in a way I can use you, I want you to go to Pharaoh.’ Moses was afraid (see Ex 3). In fact, he reluctant. When he was 40, he was excited, he wanted to take action and that’s why he just took it upon himself to kill someone.

By the time he was 80, all hope and expectation had disappeared. ‘God, you’re a little late,’ he must have been thinking. ‘When I was 40, I had some sense of it, but not anymore.’

Moses therefore comes with all kinds of excuses not to obey:
• Ex 3: 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
• Ex 3:13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
• Ex 4:1 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
• Ex 4:10 Moses said to the LORD, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
• 4:13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

In other words, send somebody else.

The first excuse is so often used by us too: ‘Who am I? I cannot, I’m simply not cut out for it. You should not ask me, you should ask someone else.’ Moses was so concerned about himself that God was not in the picture.

With any excuse, God has patience but he gives a clear answer to make our excuse invalid. Of course the excuse, ‘They do not believe me,’ is still a common one. This command is not suitable for me and my audience will not respond to me.

Moses said he could not speak well and God gave him a companion. As we read in other passages, he was a powerful man in word and deed. Just like with Moses, our excuses are camouflage over what we really want to say: ‘Lord, send someone else.’

That was enough for God, he was angry (see Ex 4:14).

The first apology sounded something like: ‘I do not have much faith in myself and not really any in You.’ But in truth, they were soft expressions for: ‘I do not want this.’

And when God had rejected all excuses, Moses went anyway reluctantly to Pharaoh. God spoke so clearly that Moses knew he could not get away from it. It would have been easier for God if Moses had just been obedient in the first instance instead making all these excuses.