Receive, Yes, When, Unknown

We live in a time when we want and a lot of times are able to get things at a moment’s notice. The past weekend, our daughter in law to be stayed with us and wanted pizza to which she order and had delivered. Now, I did not turn the pizza away and did enjoy a couple of slices, it is just that Lori and I will typically order and then go pick up, or Lori just makes the pizza here at the house (Yes, I am spoiled). It is not about when or how fast or uninterrupted things come about, it should be about the quality of that which we are receiving.

“⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” – Acts 1:8 (ESV)

Jesus made it clear to the apostles that they would receive the Holy Spirit and would carry on the work He had begun. He had told them the same thing in the upper room before His death and resurrection (which did happen as we know). And just like us here in today, the apostles where anxious about receiving things in the moment. Jesus addresses the receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit as you can see in above in verse eight. Also look below at how He prefaced verse eight after their asking about the restoration of the kingdom of Israel.

“⁷He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.’” – Acts 1:7 (ESV)

Jesus points out that yes, all will be restored and the power of the Holy Spirit will come, just that we are not to know when. We are to prepare constantly for that which will come. We are not to wait on things, just do the work and know that God is working His plan for all and for us in His time. We are to be patient, have faith, and know that we will receive.

Pizza is one thing that we can rush to receive and will be pretty good regardless. But, when we wait that thing is so much more. Homemade pizza that takes some time is so much better after the wait. Receiving the LORD now would be great, but so much better as we wait for Him to provide in His time and not our own.

What is your expectation of the LORD? Are you looking for Him to provide now without thought to the quality of what He will provide? What if you waited on the quality of the LORD, knowing that when He does, we receive the best of Him and not just something good?

Keep Waiting, You Have Not Been Abandoned

Patience my friend. It is not easy to wait. We are a restless people. Today especially, we live in a world of almost instant response, and things are only getting faster. With AI, we are able to accomplish things so much faster and this is diminishing the value of patience.

With our LORD, we must be patient. He works on His timeline and not ours. No amount of AI is going to get us to heaven any faster. Our deliverance will come when the LORD means for it and not a moment sooner or later. We may feel as though He is not listening or has left our presence, but He has not. The LORD has not abandoned us, no matter what we might be told.

“¹⁴For the Lord will not forsake his people;

he will not abandon his heritage;

¹⁵for justice will return to the righteous,

and all the upright in heart will follow it.”

— Psalm 94:14-15 (ESV)

Psalm 94 is titled in my ESV Bible, “The LORD will Not Forsake His People”, but nowhere in the chapter is it mentioned when. The psalmist just advises us to wait and that the LORD will deliver. This falls directly into what we know about the LORD and His timeline. We just don’t know. We are not in the loop as to when or how things will happen. We only trust that they will as we continue doing the work of the LORD.

I must admit that I am patient with some things and impatient with others. I have had to learn patience and trust that things will be done in the right time. I get frustrated when things do not go the way that I have planned them and then I remember that the LORD has a plan for all things and that plan has a timeline. I have to remember also to keep working for the LORD and know that I am to wait on Him and He will deliver me.

Verses 14 and 15 above are so right for you and me to study and remember. “The LORD will not forsake his people” and “justice will return to the righteous”. As for when, we do not know. We continue to wait, doing the work assigned, and know that we have not been abandoned or forsaken.

How patient are you? Are you constantly working to get things done in the now? What if you were to continue waiting on and working for the LORD, knowing that He has not abandoned you and that “justice will return” when the LORD decides?

Wait Out the Wicked

Waiting does not seem to be very productive as pertains to getting on with things. Shouldn’t we be taking action to move forward. Shouldn’t we keep on going and not just sit and wait. Well yes, but we should be doing so with purpose of glorifying the LORD and not just taking action to move on. Our action for the LORD is waiting, and our waiting is allowing the LORD to work.

“³⁴Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off.”

— Psalm 37:34 (ESV)

Our waiting is not just to wait out the wicked, but to wait on the LORD to act on our behalf. He will not allow is children to harmed to the point of eternal damnation. We have been adopted into the family of God and He will ensure that we join Him in glory when the time is right.

“³²The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

³³The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.”

— Psalm 37:32-33 (ESV)

The wicked are watching and waiting for us to falter. The wicked are going to pounce when it sees that we are vulnerable to manipulation. The wicked are opportunists. We have to be ready to wait them out for the wicked where they are patient, they are not as patient as the LORD. Once the die is cut and there is loss on their side, the wicked will move on having been cut off by the LORD (see verse 34 above).

You see, the LORD waits for us and does not abandon us in our time of need. It may seem like He is not there when we need Him, but the truth is that He carries us through the challenge and protects us from the wicked. We only have to remain faithful to Him and He will deliver us.

“⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 (ESV)

We are to wait out the wicked as we are waiting on the LORD. Yes, the wicked has patience and is looking for the opportunity to attack, but the LORD is more and infinitely patient as He waits on us. He protects us and cares for us and loves us more that we can imagine. When we are in the LORD, we will be prosperous in Him and will inherit glory.

What is your patience level? Do you give in when things are not going the way you feel they should and allow the wicked to take hold? What if you were to live knowing that the LORD is infinitely more patient and will win out, all you have to do is continue to wait on Him, wait out the wicked, and inherit glory as the LORD carries you forward?

The LORD Rewards According to the Heart

“²³…And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of your according to your works.” – Revelation 2:23b (ESV)

I have to remember that the LORD is looking in my heart. He is searching for the works that I have performed in this world, and where those works started from. It is up to me to ensure that all of the works that I am performing in this world are coming from my heart and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“¹⁹I know your works, you love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.” – Revelation 2:19 (ESV)

Here we see the Revelation of Jesus Christ and is related to the Church in Thyatira. We see that He knows the works performed and the order of those works in the lives of the church. We should be looking for similar words from the LORD about us. We should seek to ensure that our works today are greater than our works of yesterday and that those works are driven from our heart which is filled by the LORD and guided by the Holy Spirit.

Whether we are guided from our heart by the world or by the Holy Spirit, we are rewarded in heaven for that work. When guided by the world, we are rewarded with the wrath of God. When guided by the Holy Spirit we are rewarded with treasures in heaven. But regardless, our reward is from the LORD and specific to each of us according to the works found to have come from our heart.

What works are guided from you heart? Are you proceeding to please the world? What if you were to proceed as guided by the Holy Spirit to the Glory of the LORD?

Sowing Requires Patience

There are expectations of reaping immediately from that which we sow. The reality is that we will receive when the harvest is ready.

My wife is an amateur gardener. Really more of an experimenter. We only have a small yard in a housing subdivision and therefore do not have the room to have a real garden. We only have room for a couple things that will feed the two of us for a meal or two. She will plant in the right time, tomatoes, peppers, and other items that will really just accent our meals. The one thing she is very well aware of is that these things take time. One of the items she relishes to see develop is her lemons. If you don’t know, lemons take months, not days or weeks to develop. It can take 6 months from the flowering to the ripening of the lemon. And Lori waits patiently, checking in on the lemons daily, even as there will be little to no change noticeable each day. The same can be said with everything else we sow.

I have to remember to just sow that which is good in the eyes of the LORD and know that He will cultivate and ripen those things to the point of harvest time. I am not able to rush them along and in the process I may be saddened and working through some hardships of my own only to realize the glory of the LORD at the point of harvest.

“⁵Those who sow in tears

shall reap with shouts of joy!

⁶He who goes out weeping,

bearing the seed for sowing,

shall come home with shouts of joy,

bringing his sheaves with him.”

— Psalm 126:5-6 (ESV)

When it is time for the harvest, I will shout and be completely joyous as the reaping can now begin. I will have realized the glory of God, in His time and not my own. I will have gone through the times of waiting and caring and cultivating.

Notice in the verses above the sweetness that is realized in the reaping. That sweetness is due to the ripening that could only have been realized thanks to the time it took. Lori’s lemons are so much sweeter thanks to the time waiting and caring and cultivating them. The anticipation of the harvest created even more flavor than would have been found with the simple grocery store purchase of lemons.

I have to remember that the sowing of seeds for the LORD is just the beginning. There is the time of waiting and caring and cultivating that will bring the seeds to the time of harvest and then I will be able to full enjoy the sweet glory that comes with the realization of God’s Work being completed for His glory and not my own.

What are you out there sowing? Are you looking for the immediate growth and the ability to reap as you sow? What if you were to sow and things wait and care and cultivate the seeds that are the work of God and experience the sweet glory at the time of harvest?