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?

Wait on and Trust in God Only

I am human and a man and therefor I believe it is my responsibility to make things better. I am in control of things and by my work I am the thing that gets me and us through things that happen to get in the way. Well, as I child of God, I have to remember that it is really He that does such and I have to wait on and trust in Him only.

“¹For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.”

“⁸Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.”

— Psalm 62:1-2&8 (ESV)

God is my refuge and my redeemer. I have to remember these things. I have to do the work that He has for me, yes. But, it is just that, the work He has for me that he prepared ahead of time. The work He has for me is for my good.

“¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” – Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

I have to wait on God to give me the direction for that work and trust that it is enough for me. Yes, there will be things that distract me, like riches and things and places. God will provide that which I need and not those things of distraction. I have to stay focused on Him and the work and things He has for me and know that is enough.

“¹⁰Put no trust in extortion;

set no vain hopes on robbery;

if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

¹¹Once God has spoken;

twice have I heard this:

that power belongs to God,

¹²and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.

For you will render to a man

according to his work.”

— Psalm 62:10-12 (ESV)

When reading verse 12 above, it would appear that it is through works that we gain from God. But we have to look at where those works come from, Him. It is not the works that lead to our gain, it is because of our gain that we complete the works of the LORD. We have the works thanks to Him and those works are tailored specifically for each of us. And that is where the waiting and trusting come in. I have to wait on God to provide me the works He has for me and then trust in Him that these works will be enough for His glory to shine brightly for the world to see.

What is your view of waiting on and trusting in God? Are you anxious and looking to do things on your own? What if you were to wait on Him and trust that He will provide that which you are in need of to bring glory to Him?

Be All About the LORD

This morning I am in Psalm 37 and am seeing the glory of the LORD manifest for those who are connected to Him. The thing that stood out to me this morning is that I have to be all about the LORD and give myself fully to Him and work to bring glory to Him always.

“³Trust in the Lord…

⁴Delight yourself in the Lord…

⁵Commit your way to the Lord…

⁷Be still before the Lord…

³⁴Wait for the Lord…”

— Psalm 37:3, 4, 5, 7, & 34 (ESV)

These are all there in God’s Word for me to meditate on. I am not just to accept salvation from the LORD, I am to be all about and all in with Him. Justification is gained once one has accepted salvation and the fact that Jesus came and paid the price for my sin in this world that I may not die of my sin. He came for that I would not have to experience the wrath of the Father as He took on the consequence of my separation from the LORD.

Being all about the LORD and all in with Him is a move to Sanctification as I work to remove the power of sin in my life. I will be judged as righteous when I trust, delight, commit, am still, and wait for the LORD. When I surround myself with the LORD and dwell in Him I will keep myself working for, in, and with Him and my focus will not wander into the temptation of sin. I am devoted to the LORD and His work and do not have the time or thought of anything else.

Every day I am tempted by the evil one to wander off from the LORD. Even as a child of God, I am drawn to sin and sinful ways. I am secure in my salvation thanks to the justification I have gained through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. My sanctification is the ongoing struggle as I work to overcome the power of sin. It is in my all in and all about the LORD where I will find relief from the power of sin as I find peace in Him.

What is your view of your relationship with the LORD? Are you content in your justification? What if you were to be all about the LORD and fully trust, delight, commit, are still, and wait for Him to avoid the power of sin that continues?

Will You Trust the LORD for However Long

This morning I am going to re-post from over 5 years ago. As I am studying the word “will” I am taking what the LORD has for me each day as I go to the next passage. This morning I am in Psalm 13 where the title of the passage is “How Long, O LORD?” David is looking for relief from the LORD (which is a key point) and experiences three steps in seeking that relief, questioning the LORD, asking Him for help, and declaring His devotion to Him. Shouldn’t that be the same approach we take daily with the LORD?

Here is my writing from April 17, 2020:

I sometimes feel, like right now, that the difficulty, adversity, and challenges should be resolved much faster than they are.

“¹How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? ²How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?” – Psalm 13:1-2 (ESV)

David felt the same way. I am comforted when reading this passage. As I continue the passage of Psalm 13, I am reminded of the approach to take. As in the next 2 verses as David prays for help.

“³Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, ⁴let my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.” – Psalm 13:3-4 (ESV)

So David first laments his questions as to the timing of God’s deliverance. Next, he again prays again for help from God. And finally, he states his confidence in eventual deliverance.

“⁵But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. ⁶I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” – Psalm 13:5-6 (ESV)

It is okay to question God. He is sovereign and He provides for my needs. But that does not mean that I am to be silent. God is my Father and I should be asking questions for guidance. When things are not going the way I thought they should, I have to ask.

I know that as a corporate training professional, one of the things I stress in class is for the participants to take charge of their learning. A key part of that is to ask the questions they need answers to, and no question is off limits. I should be doing the same with God. He is the one that knows all and therefore doesn’t it make sense to ask Him? The answer I get may not be what I wanted, but I have to trust that He will provide when needed.

Have you asked God? Have you declared your trust in Him? Remembering that God’s timing is perfect, will you declare your confidence in His deliverance, no matter how long?

Sometimes Action of the LORD is No Action

I find myself in prayer asking for the LORD to take action and deliver me. I find myself in circumstances that are weighing me down and in need of resolution and deliverance from those circumstances. I also find myself asking for things from the LORD and waiting on Him to do provide those things.

“¹²For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. ¹³The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.” – Exodus 12:12-13 (ESV)

Reading this morning of the Passover, I am reminded that sometimes it is the no action of the LORD that is the action He intends. You see, the people placed blood on the doorposts and lintel so that the LORD would pass over their houses and not deliver the plague of death to their home. The LORD would pass by and move on to the next house as He was delivering action to the land of Egypt.

Remember that time that you were late to work only to find that there was an accident that happened about two minutes ahead of you on the road. Or that time that you missed out on going to an event to find out later that the event was not what you expected it to be. Or that time when you were delayed and not able to make a purchase to find that the exact funds for the purchase were able to cover a debt completely.

The LORD provides in many ways for us. We may ask for things and expect that He will deliver those things in our idea of how they should be delivered, when in fact He delivers without taking action. The Israelite people were spared in the Passover thanks to their obedience to the LORD. He did not take action and delivered them from the circumstance befalling on Egypt.

I have to remember that I should continue to ask the LORD to deliver me. But I also have to remember that His deliverance may just be that He is taking no action.

What is your expectation of deliverance? Are you finding yourself seeking to be delivered in just they way you imagine? What if you simply asked for deliverance and opened yourself to the LORD and His deliverance, even when He takes no action?