Answers
I am a laughingstock to my friends,
by calling on God, who answers me. Job 12:4
What kind of answers do you expect from God when you pray and how fast do you want the answers? I know that all have heard that God answers in His own time, but the answer is what I would like to focus on. I don't think we look closely enough at the answers He gives in the moment. We all know the answers we want, but how many times have you received exactly the answer you were looking for? God knows every aspect of our life and really knows the next steps down the road, so when we get an answer we didn't expect, why do we turn on God and try to develop our own answer or manipulate His? Just like my prayers for healing, while I know He hears those prayers, I know that the healing will be done in His will. I turn to the doctors and forget to realize that God is giving them the tools to heal as well as the guidance to treat. While we work through difficulties in our lives, we need to not stop praying, but continue to pray for the answers that God wants to give us. So, the next time you pray, trust that God has an answer in store and pray with a humbleness that releases all anxiety. Do not try an manipulate Him into the answer you want to receive, because it just isn't going to work.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
Friday, October 25, 2019
Friday, October 18, 2019
Fantastic Friday #703 - Extinguish
Extinguish
45 The word of the Lord came to me: 46 “Son of man, face the south and preach against it. Prophesy against the forest land in the Negev, 47 and say to the forest there: Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says: I am about to ignite a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing flame will not be extinguished, and every face from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 48 Then all people will see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it. It will not be extinguished.” Ezekiel 20:45-48
To put out a fire, to wipe out from existence, to annihilate are all definitions of the word extinguish. Is there something in your life that you wish to extinguish? We all have fires burning inside us, some of them good and decent, and some are filled with passion. There are other fires that are not so good and they have the enemy pouring an accelerant on them to keep that fire burning stronger and wood is placed on them to keep the fire burning longer in us to hopefully make us fall away from the Lord. There is only one individual that can extinguish these fires within us, and it isn't us. We need the help of our Lord and Savior to extinguish the enemy's flames. The problem we have is that we tend to like the warmth of the flames sometimes, and we don't think of the burning that is taking place is impacting anyone. The fires that should be burning inside us, are those that we should help fan with the power of righteousness. When we fan those flames, they can overtake the flames of the enemy that tend to burn and not heal. The flames of righteousness can hold a barrier between you and the enemy's flames, and maybe those are the fires we should be focused on. I don't know about you, but I would rather see the fire that cannot be extinguished which protects us than a fire that consumes us.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
45 The word of the Lord came to me: 46 “Son of man, face the south and preach against it. Prophesy against the forest land in the Negev, 47 and say to the forest there: Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord God says: I am about to ignite a fire in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing flame will not be extinguished, and every face from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 48 Then all people will see that I, Yahweh, have kindled it. It will not be extinguished.” Ezekiel 20:45-48
To put out a fire, to wipe out from existence, to annihilate are all definitions of the word extinguish. Is there something in your life that you wish to extinguish? We all have fires burning inside us, some of them good and decent, and some are filled with passion. There are other fires that are not so good and they have the enemy pouring an accelerant on them to keep that fire burning stronger and wood is placed on them to keep the fire burning longer in us to hopefully make us fall away from the Lord. There is only one individual that can extinguish these fires within us, and it isn't us. We need the help of our Lord and Savior to extinguish the enemy's flames. The problem we have is that we tend to like the warmth of the flames sometimes, and we don't think of the burning that is taking place is impacting anyone. The fires that should be burning inside us, are those that we should help fan with the power of righteousness. When we fan those flames, they can overtake the flames of the enemy that tend to burn and not heal. The flames of righteousness can hold a barrier between you and the enemy's flames, and maybe those are the fires we should be focused on. I don't know about you, but I would rather see the fire that cannot be extinguished which protects us than a fire that consumes us.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
Friday, October 11, 2019
Fantastic Friday #702 - Tongue
Tongue
5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6
This last week in church we discussed many aspects of the tongue, but this one section of the description of the tongue really struck me. We think the tongue is a small part of our body and we don't often think of how the tongue impacts people if we use it to gossip or talk about others. We don't realize the hurt we cause others, but we definitely don't think as Christians of how others view us when we are talking about folks. Are we truly a Christian when we use our tongue to knock down people or speak negatively? This kind of violates God's commands of loving others. We don't want people talking about us not being a true Christian, so why do we think it is OK to speak about others behind their back. We need to focus on our tongue just as much as our actions, it is not easy but God provides a way out of negativity and hatefulness. We just need to remember that God always has us, we just need to turn to Him.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
5 So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. 6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6
This last week in church we discussed many aspects of the tongue, but this one section of the description of the tongue really struck me. We think the tongue is a small part of our body and we don't often think of how the tongue impacts people if we use it to gossip or talk about others. We don't realize the hurt we cause others, but we definitely don't think as Christians of how others view us when we are talking about folks. Are we truly a Christian when we use our tongue to knock down people or speak negatively? This kind of violates God's commands of loving others. We don't want people talking about us not being a true Christian, so why do we think it is OK to speak about others behind their back. We need to focus on our tongue just as much as our actions, it is not easy but God provides a way out of negativity and hatefulness. We just need to remember that God always has us, we just need to turn to Him.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
Friday, October 4, 2019
Fantastic Friday #701 - Frame
Frame
24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding all around it. 25 Make a three-inch frame all around it and make a gold molding for it all around its frame. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings to the four corners at its four legs. Exodus 25:24-26
What do you think of when you hear the word frame? Do you think of a house being framed, do you think of a picture frame holding a precious memory, do you think of the frame of your body or do you think of framing an opinion? So many things come to mind when I hear the word frame. I mainly think of framing as an object that provides a support system for something to stand on its own. What about you? What do you have to support you, or do you have system of friends in place that can support you? We often don't think of how we can stand up to the enemy's schemes, but with the proper support structure in place, we can stand up to anything. If you think about how God created your bone structure to be the frame that supports your body, you can see that He took His time to take care of His precious creation. Just like when He gave direction on building the ark of the covenant, He made sure it was properly framed and supported. We just need to make sure our frame is a strong one that can withstand the pressures of the enemy, and know that our creator is the maker of that frame.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
24 Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding all around it. 25 Make a three-inch frame all around it and make a gold molding for it all around its frame. 26 Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings to the four corners at its four legs. Exodus 25:24-26
What do you think of when you hear the word frame? Do you think of a house being framed, do you think of a picture frame holding a precious memory, do you think of the frame of your body or do you think of framing an opinion? So many things come to mind when I hear the word frame. I mainly think of framing as an object that provides a support system for something to stand on its own. What about you? What do you have to support you, or do you have system of friends in place that can support you? We often don't think of how we can stand up to the enemy's schemes, but with the proper support structure in place, we can stand up to anything. If you think about how God created your bone structure to be the frame that supports your body, you can see that He took His time to take care of His precious creation. Just like when He gave direction on building the ark of the covenant, He made sure it was properly framed and supported. We just need to make sure our frame is a strong one that can withstand the pressures of the enemy, and know that our creator is the maker of that frame.
Have a great weekend.
Matt
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