From Eden to Egypt- Day 12

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah.22 Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters.- Gen. 5:21-22 (ESV)

 

Change can come in many forms.  We may have different causes for our change, but we need to ready ourselves for change.  We need to prepare for it as much as possible.  You may never see it coming down pipe, but you still need to ready yourself for the day it comes.  Sam Cooke sang: "Change gonna come." In The Art of War, Sun Tzu said,"In everything there is change."

My suggestion is that you be so prayed up and prepared that no change catches you by surprise.  You need to downsize your home.  It will come one day.  Your children will move out.  Hope and pray that you have done all that you can to prepare them.  Your job is laying off people in every department.  Think over your next career move.  Your wife just said that she's pregnant.  Get yourself ready, buddy.

I have always been amazed about Enoch's walk.  Not only did he walk with God, but he walked with Him and "he was not" due to the fact that God did not let him see death.  The New International Version says: "he was no more." Let's take a factual approach to this.  He was gone.  He was out of everyone's sight.  You could have turned over every rock east of Eden and still never would have found Enoch.

Why?

God's sovereignty.  God did with Enoch as He does with us all.  He did whatever He chose to do with Enoch.  Let's not get this theologically twisted.  Let's not dummy-down the doctrine here. 


Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.- Psalm 115:3 (NIV)

He is sovereign.  Yes, Enoch walked differently due to his son being born.  He walked with the Lord.  Yet, we tend to stress the goodness of Enoch and his walk, not the greatness of God who "took him away." 

Look at God and His power.  Who but God could open up heaven and allow on such as Enoch to walk in? Who but God could look from on high and be considerate of the ways of man, still saying that there is none that does good; no, not one? We have to pay more homage and honor to God for His goodness because He is holy.  Enoch shows us the power of God, not a perfect example of submission.  Don't put too much emphasis on Enoch when you need to see the power and might of the Lord at work in Enoch's life.  Surely, through His power, He can bring about change.

No Middle of the Road

"We have been created for a purpose."- Rick Warren

In this day and age, it is pretty hard to figure out who hasn't heard anything about Rick Warren.  Whether good or bad, his name has come up in a conversation about a best-selling book, a political agenda and relationship with President Obama, or Saddleback and its pastor hosting a political debate or "forum" (I truly do not see the difference beyond theory and definition).  Some atheists and church-haters despise Rick Warren and everything that he stands for, while some Christians and non-Christians live upon every aspect of The Purpose-Driven Life.  That is until The Shack or some other best-selling book sweeps Christendom and its outer realm like Jabez and Benett's Book of Virtues once did.

What I admire admire about Rick Warren is that he is unashamed about what made him successful as a pastor.  I'll even say how God made him successful in that realm. 

Look deep into The Purpose-Driven Church and see a man following God's lead, both prayerfully and faithfully.  Prior to pastoring, Rick Warren had faith.  Prior to having a mega-church status, Rick Warren sought to please God.

Stop for a moment.  Think about what I just put out there.  Substitute "Rick Warren" with your name and his status with your achievements and accomplishments.

Prior to becoming a parent and a spouse, ______________ sought to please God.

Prior to getting a driver's license and a car, _________________ sought to please God.

Prior to teaching Sunday school and leading VBS, ________________ sought to please God.

Prior to (whatever it is that people see as your big thing), did you seek to please God?

Now that you have done it and achieved it, do you still seek to please God? Do you seek to please Him more and more?

There's no middle of the road with God.  I don't believe that He's nonchalant about how we handle His kingdom business.  We either please or grieve God.  There isn't a safe place where we can straddle this way or that way.  Either we please Him or we simply do not, and then that's when we grieve Him.

I could have used T.D. Jakes, Robert H. Schuller, Billy Graham, or the late Oral Roberts.  Imagine if I had used someone like Kirk Franklin, Brian Welch from Korn, or Steven Baldwin.  Each of these men have a story that speaks about times when their very own lives grieved God as well as the dramatic turnaround that led to them seeking to please God.

God is either pleased or grieved with us and our actions.

Do you please God? Do you grieve God? 

Seek to please Him today and forever.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.- Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Inside Out: Demonstrate

In the same way, let your light shine before men,

that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.- Matthew 5:16 (NIV)

We talked about the church working from the "inside out." We consider it the outward working of the church that starts with an internal spark like a combustible engines. You start discipling and developing people. Then, after that, you look at disseminating the Word and demonstrating the Word. All of this is done with a kingdom mindset that is not of this world.

Jesus talked about sharing and showing our light as He calls us the “light of the world” in Matthew 5:14-16. He shares that a lit candle is not lit to be hidden but to shed light on all that is around it. He expressly states that we should let our light shine before men for a two-point purpose:
*Men are to see your good works
*Men will glorify God

Paul shared that we should think and act like Christ as if we had His mind (Philippians 2:5). We have to be careful to not just talk a good game but to be able to walk it as well. We must practice what we preach.

Ministry has the ultimate purpose of glorifying God. Guess what? When you do your good works, you are letting your light shine before men just as Jesus shared for us to do as the light of the world. However, when these men see your good works, they won’t give you the glory. No, they will see your good works and give glory to the One who provided the light. They will give praises to the Lord who caused us to let our lights shine before men in the first place.

Share it and show it.
Let your light shine.

Purposeful Pursuits

Our purpose in all things is to please God.- John Wesley

What we need to do is please God by what we do day by day. Our daily pursuits should lead to God being glorified every step of the way. Our work should serve as part of our worship. Daily, as we work according to our purpose, we should see our pursuits as a means for God to get the glory from ourselves and others. Matthew 5:16 shares that our lights are to shine in such a way that men will see them and become encouraged to call on the name of the Lord. Pursue the promises of the Lord with purose.

Black Business, Kingdom Business

William Washington Browne had been a slave, and became a minister, educator, and businessman. Did everybody get that? He was once a slave, but he escaped from slavery and signed on as a Union officer's servant before serving in the Union Army at fifteen. He was a minister and educator. A former slave? Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. Finally, he was a businessman. The Bible is ripe with the Lord using businessmen of all sorts such as fishermen, shepherds, and others.

Visit www.sba.gov to learn more about small business success.

Blogging and Other Venues (For the Lord)

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

Matthew 11:15 (NKJV)

No matter what vehicle we choose to use to spread God's Word to the far reaches of the earth, we must be sure to choose something that will reach a market of people with "ears to hear." If you choose MySpace over Twitter and Facebook, then let it be because there are those out there with ears to hears the Word. When you blog, you could use Blogger or Wordpress. You just need to make sure your blog is reaching and touching some people for the Lord and to His glory. Whether you write Bible studies or spread via spoken word, be sure that you offer something that can be comprehended with conviction and compassion. No matter what you do, you need to do your best to honor God through what you do. Let God make the most of your YouTube or Gmail accounts. Ensure that God gets the glory from every one of your sermons on podcast, each Bible teacher training on webcast, and all of your other venues. Let God get the glory from all that you do.

The Created & the Creator

"God is the Potter; we are His clay." - Charles Swindoll

Isaiah 64:8; Romans 9:20-21

The Bible makes a clear distinctionbetween that which is created and the Creator Himself. God is the self-existing, creative force that spoke and light shined, life came into being, and He saw that it was good. What is troubling is when that which is created seems to forget that it is under the power of the Creator. God created us with a free will, the ability to choose and make decisions for ourselves, and it is that very free will that brings about challenges with our own thoughts and intensions versus the ways of the Lord. We are to submit to the Lord's will, not our own. We are to pray that our heart's desires and wishes match up with the Lord's will. It is by keeping within His will that we stay close to the Creator. Pray daily that your footsteps are along the path that the Lord has set for you that day.
**********************************
Thou art near, O Lord; and all thy commandments are truth.- Psalm 119:151 (KJV)

**********************************
"The aim of good works is that God may be glorified."- Andrew Murray

Prayer Leads to Praise

Prayer Leads to Praise!

We often teach prayer as a personal or collective effort. It is usually either or, one or the other. Rarely do we see examples of prayer being both personal and collective. However, incorporate praise in the mix and we have a whole different ball of wax. When we include praise as part of the equation, we can see where where our personal prayer can lead to public praise that inspires the collective body.

It is my belief that we can seek God in prayer privately and publicly, but our praise is to be made public. We must boldly proclaim what God has done through his mighty works. It is up to us as His witnesses to offer testimony that publicizes all that He has done. We give Him the glory by offering sincere praise as the "fruit of our lips."

Make an effort to pray both privately and publicly. Get into the routine practice of prayer. Never let your prayer be without a praise a report. When God has given you an answer, praise Him in the sanctuary. When you have surrendered a matter to God, give Him praise among the saints for what is awaiting you. When God takes a while before He gives you answer, praise Him for keeping your hope alive. Even if the answer isn't what you hoped it to be, give God all the praise that you can for Him at least giving you answer to your situation. Whatever it may be and however it turns out, give God the glory with your praise!