FOLLOWING GOD'S SCHEDULE

By Dr. Charles F. Stanley

Waiting on God so we can discover His will is an essential discipline of the Christian life. Once we learn His plan, we must be careful to implement it in His time frame.

Following the Lord's schedule is always to our benefit because of His . . .

• All-encompassing knowledge. Unlike us, the Father has complete awareness about our world and the details of every individual life—past, present, and future. (Acts 17:26).

• Complete wisdom. The Lord understands man's every motive (1 Chron. 28:9) and acts accordingly. Our decision making is flawed since we cannot clearly discern people's intentions. We make choices based on partial information, but God has the wisdom to properly interpret the facts and then take action based on truth (Rom. 11:33). He never makes a mistake.

• Unending love. Through His Son, the Father offers us unconditional love. By sending Jesus to die in our place, God proved the depth of His everlasting love (1 John 4:10). He always has our best interest at heart.

• Perfect sufficiency. The Lord offers us all the resources we need to carry out His plan—wisdom, strength, and skill (2 Peter 1:3).

Adhering to God's timetable requires both faith and courage. We must believe that He knows how we should live, trust that His plan is right, and have the determination to wait until He gives a signal to proceed. Those who follow the Lord's schedule will experience the blessing of watching Him work things together for their gain and His glory.

Scripture Of The Day: "Show me Your ways, O Lord; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day." - Psalm 25:4-5 (NKJV)

BEGIN AGAIN

By Sharon Frame

The desperate father refused to eat or drink. For days he laid prostrate on the floor of his house and wept. He begged God to heal his sick child. After all, it was HIS sin of adultery that had angered the Almighty. The child was innocent. But heaven showed no mercy. The baby boy died seven days later.

It was a most scandalous crime. King David had an alliance with a married woman. The bewitching Bathsheba got pregnant. David had her husband killed to cover up his tracks and claim her as his new wife. But then the word of God came and convicted him.

King David agonized over his son while the child was alive. But when he drew his last breath, David stopped mourning. He got up from the floor, washed his face and went to the temple to worship God. He then went home and ate a big meal. His quick recovery shocked his servants. How could he shut the door to his loss so fast? But what was done was done. David would waste no more time living in regret. It was time to begin again. Some people choose to pitch a tent around their failures and camp out.

David wasn’t having that. He decided to accept God’s forgiveness, and release his guilt and emotional baggage. That’s the only way he could move forward.

What is it that you insist on holding on to that God has instructed you to let go? Is it a destructive relationship? a bad habit? No amount of prayer or fasting will make it good. God says release it. It stands in the way of your new beginning.

This New Year doesn’t need to be saddled with old baggage. Take a cue from King David. He took three key steps to begin again.

First, the moment his son died, David released his guilt and grief. Suddenly, he saw clearly enough to reconnect to his true purpose. And that was simply to serve God.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

David’s sin had severed his fellowship with God and blocked his vision. Once he fully released it, he went straight to “church” to worship.

That was the second step David took. He got refreshed.

Each new day, God gives us 86,400 seconds to refresh, to begin again. Unlike your vacation days or cell phone minutes, these seconds don’t roll over. You can’t accumulate time. Spend it living your purpose not regretting your past.

The day you release and refresh, is the day you begin to reclaim right-standing with God. This third step is the only way to true peace and prosperity. Reclaiming right-standing simply means to accept God’s forgiveness, and forgive yourself! This was key to David’s deliverance.

No matter how shameful our past failures, God urges us to begin again. Here is an amazing irony: From the ashes of our “mess,” God can create something marvelous.

David didn’t want to lose his child, even though it symbolized his “mess.” God replaced him with Solomon, the second child born to David and Bathsheba. Solomon would rise to become one of the greatest rulers of ancient Israel and the wisest man in the world during his time.

What personal greatness might you be holding up because you won’t release old hurts and failures? The birth of your “Solomon” cannot occur while you linger in the grave yard of your past mistakes. The Lord said in Isaiah 43:19, “Behold I do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

God has made a way for us to release, refresh and reclaim our rightful place in Him. Now is the time to begin again.

Scripture Of The Day: "Behold I do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” - Isaiah 43:19

YOUR SECURITY IS NOT IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

by Rick Warren

"Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you need and he will give it to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to." Matthew 6:33 (LB)

Many of us act like spiritual orphans. We forget that we have a heavenly Father who already knows what we need. He's just waiting for us to ask. He will provide. Does God take care of little birds? They don't worry. Human beings are the only things in all creation that worry. Everything else trusts the heavenly Father and creator to care for their needs.

"He gives food to those who trust Him. He never forgets His promises." (Psalm 111:5 LB) How much do you trust God? Worry is really just a form of atheism. Every time you worry, you're saying, "It all depends on me." That's just not in the Bible.

You must trust God with your life. Today's verse says, "If you give him first place." Why? Because as long as you love anything more than God that thing or person or item will become a source of anxiety.

"Don't put your hope in wealth which is so uncertain. But put your hope in God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment." (1 Timothy 6:17)

You must always remember -- your security is not in your bank account; your security is in the Lord. If God turns off one faucet, he can turn on another. If he turns off one job, he can turn on another. You must seek the Lord.
The book of Romans says God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for you to pay for your salvation. If God loves you enough to send His own son to die for you, don't you think He loves you enough to take care of your bills? Don't you realize that any other problem is minor by comparison? He solved your biggest problem when he saved you. The bottom line is this: Are you going to believe God to do what He says He will do? And are you going to believe him enough to do what he tells you to do?

LIVING AN OBEDIENCE-BASED LIFE

by Os Hillman

"They trusted in Him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God." - Daniel 3:28b

Have you ever known someone who lived an outcome-based Christian experience? This means that their decisions are made based on the positive or negative outcome, not on absolute obedience.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three men who lived an obedience-based life. When King Nebuchadnezzar passed a law that said all were to worship his idol, these young men determined they would not worship anything other than God. You can be sure these men did not make this decision at the time of the decree. Their decision actually had been made years earlier. Their convictions were already in their hearts.

Each of us must come to a place of knowing what our boundaries are in given situations. What will you tolerate from your employer? What situation crosses the line for you? Where are the boundaries for questionable practices in your life? If these are not worked out ahead, you will live a life of situational ethics, determining what decision to make based on the merits of the situation.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were willing to die for what they believed. In this case, they were delivered from the fiery furnace. God used their faithfulness to impact a king, and they were promoted to higher positions.

Are you an obedienced-based Christian? Or are there situations that can move you based on the outcome? God wants to know that we will stand firm on the issues that are important to Him, no matter what the outcome may be. God is looking for those who are radical in their obedience. Does this describe your commitment to Christ? If not, pray for this kind of conviction. The Lord will honor you for this.

LORD, DISTURB ME

by Pastor Marvin Williams

I follow the Radical Rabbi named Jesus, but I am too safe, too comfortable, too undisturbed.

I hang the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door of my life because I don't like my comfort, safety and status-quo living being interrupted by the turbulence of big dreams, the deep waters of radical obedience, the rough seas of suffering, and the dark nights of uncertain adventures.

The other day, I ran across a prayer, written by Sir Frances Drake (explorer and naval pioneer during the Elizabethan era), that disturbed me. This prayer affected my spiritual equilibrium so much, that I want to share it with you, in hopes that it will disturb you like it did me.

Don't just gloss over the words; sit with it for a minute and then spend some time, dissecting and parsing its content. Then ask God to help you identify "smooth sailing" areas of your life. Next, ask him to disturb the places in your life where you are safe, comfortable, undisturbed.

Here's the prayer:

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.

I know I have been sailing too close to the shore lately and I am asking Jesus to disturb me to action.

In what areas have you become too comfortable and need to pray: "Lord, disturb me?" In what areas in your life have you been traveling too close to shore and need to pray: "Lord, disturb me?"

Scripture Of The Day: "You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him." - Deuteronomy 13:4