by David Brenneman
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin." James 4:13-17.
Ever notice how quickly we can get into situations when we jump ahead of God? Even if it's in something small and on the surface insignificant. My Dear Reader is anything insignificant to He who searches the hearts of mankind?
King David spoke of the Lord his God in this way...He knows my going out and my coming in. Read it.
"O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way." Psalms 139:1-24.
This part of the book of Psalms indeed ties in with what King Solomon said in Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."
When you jump into the day are you taking Jesus with you or do you wave at Him as you go about your life? He's in your rear view mirror rather than driving your car. You take no note of Him until you're going off the rails, off the road. When trouble strikes. Do you only go hand in hand with your Savior on Sundays?
Oh the troubles we invite when we neglect such a relationship between us and our Savior!
Both Satan's persistence to invite troubles for us...since he must get permission...and our own sin nature...are against us...keeping a firm hold of the nail pierced hands of Jesus aren't optional!
When our thoughts and feelings, our emotions and our intentions, are set higher than His ways, His thoughts, His righteousness, we are being arrogant and presumptuous.
The four Gospels show four perspectives on laying aside self and taking up our own cross to follow Jesus.
If we indeed pray for His will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven then we must cast aside our will here on Earth. Even if it's something we personally don't care for. We are to be His Disciples.
To grow in Christ means to adopt for ourselves the manurisms the language the behaviors the priorities of our Savior.
To be truthful, I know not what this day has in it. By the grace of God I am to consider myself prepared for it. He has plans for me in this today. They may or may not be what I am expecting. I rarely if ever plan far ahead. This passage in James is why.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9.
The Lord considers everything about everyone.
There are no insignificant people to the Creator of the Universe.
The Scriptures tell us plainly that He died once for all. This includes every single human being who ever has lived or will live. Every single "good" person as well as all those who we consider as "evil" and everyone in between.
We can indeed be very arrogant about ourselves and others. Dismissing people whom meant everything to Jesus on the cross.
We see, in the night He was betrayed, that all saw Him lay aside His garments to wash the Disciples feet.
We see every good and pure example taught to the Disciples.
We are the ones standing in our own way. We, in small ways and big ways, think more highly of ourselves than we ought to.
Go into today and take Jesus with you.
Do not take a step in life ahead of Him.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. The mind of man plans his ways but the Lord directs his steps.
The Disciples sometimes got ahead of Jesus and He pulled them back.
We shouldn't think that we won't need that as well.
Jesus would and does leave the 99 sheep to search for the one who wandered away. A few times in my life I was that sheep. I got ahead of Jesus and I had a long road back to the life He intended for me.
Do a reality check and see where your thoughts, feelings, desires are in relationship to what Jesus has been telling you. Because He has been...if you're listening.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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