Video Bible Lesson - God’s Sovereign Plan By: Amanda Idleman

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

7/7/2020

God’s Sovereign Plan

By: Amanda Idleman

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” – Isaiah 14:24As you read through Isaiah, you are clued into the nature and character of God through the prophetic gift given to Isaiah. Isaiah’s mouth is filled with words that paint a picture of what God has planned for the future. He clearly articulates God’s many emotions when it comes to His people. All of the prophecies from Isaiah became verifiable, historical fact.Through the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy, we can see the absolute dependability of God’s plan. We can rest assured that no matter our present situation, we can stand on the promises of God who articulated them in His Word. In our most hopeless moments, we can draw encouragement from the sovereignty of our Lord.God has a plan. He is not distant and uninvolved in the happenings of our world. We may look at world events and see random occurrences. We may become overwhelmed by your own powerlessness to change the tide of our society. But God does not see randomness, and He has the power to change things that feel impossible to us.In Isaiah, God warns Israel from relying on the surrounding nations for security. God’s plan went against what seemed like a logical solution to the Israelites. He warned that the two major powers in the region, Assyria and Babylon, would fall despite appearing to be unbeatable forces in the region. These prophecies were fulfilled when the Assyrian Empire was crushed by Babylon. Later, as prophesied by Jeremiah, Babylon fell too.The Israelites who heard these prophecies for the first time probably were skeptical and doubted God’s power over the forces that appear to rule our world. Yet, God’s Word has proven to be reliable over the course of history. When we see what feels like confusing and unbeatable challenges, rest assured in God’s sovereign plan for our world.Just as God’s plan for the nations are fulfilled, so are God’s plans for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 gives us this personal encouragement, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” This is a promise you can stand on. God’s plan is a good one. Even when evil attempts to steal from us: God is present, He is working, He is faithful, and He is good.Isaiah 43:1 tells us even more about God’s reliability. He makes a beautiful promise and offers us words of encouragement for our moments of difficulty and doubt. God says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” The Creator, Sovereign God of all knows it’s easy to be afraid. That’s why He so clearly offers us words of comfort and assurance. Our Big God identifies us as His. He is close, He is personal, and He is for you. Rest in the knowledge that we serve a sovereign God.

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

He hath made me a polished shaft (Isa. 49:2).

There is a very famous "Pebble Beach" at Pescadero, on the California coast. The long line of white surf comes up with its everlasting roar, and rattles and thunders among the stones on the shore. They are caught in the arms of the pitiless waves, and tossed and rolled, and rubbed together, and ground against the sharp-grained cliffs. Day and night forever the ceaseless attrition goes on--never any rest. And the result?

Tourists from all the world flock thither to gather the round and beautiful stones. They are laid up in cabinets; they ornament the parlor mantels. But go yonder, around the point of the cliff that breaks off the force of the sea; and up in that quiet cove, sheltered from the storms, and lying ever in the sun, you shall find abundance of pebbles that have never been chosen by the traveler.

Why are these left all the years through unsought? For the simple reason that they have escaped all the turmoil and attrition of the waves, and the quiet and peace have left them as they found them, rough and angular and devoid of beauty. Polish comes through trouble.

Since God knows what niche we are to fill, let us trust Him to shape us to it. Since He knows what work we are to do, let us trust Him to drill us to the proper preparation.

O blows that smite! O hurts that pierce
This shrinking heart of mine!
What are ye but the Master's tools
Forming a work Divine?

Nearly all God's jewels are crystallized tears.

The Trap of Discouragement.....Dr. Charles Stanley

The Trap of Discouragement

Dr. Charles Stanley

Habakkuk 1:2

Do you feel stuck in discouragement? If so, you are not alone.

At some point everyone experiences dashed hopes. Disappointment—an emotional response to a failed expectation—is the normal initial reaction. But allowed to linger, it can turn into discouragement, which hovers like a dense cloud. When that’s the case, there is no sense of joy or contentment, no matter what you do.

The circumstances that trigger these emotions may be unavoidable, but the way we respond is a choice. We can either let sadness overwhelm our souls or face the situation with courage and bring it before the One who can help us.

Living in discouragement will divide the mind, making it hard to focus on anything besides our pain. Then as anger becomes habitual, we’ll look for someone to blame—whether God, people around us, or ourself.

Frustration that isn’t handled well may develop into depression, which in turn can estrange us from others—people do not enjoy the company of someone who’s bitter and defeated. This isolation leads to a low self-esteem. Finally, in a fog of discouragement, we can make poor decisions based on crushed emotions instead of truth. Obviously, choosing this self-destructive path is not God’s best for our lives.

Though we’ll all face disappointment from time to time, believers are not to wallow in it. Instead, God wants us to trust Him with everything—even our unmet expectations and deepest sadnesses. Remember, there is divine purpose for everything He allows to touch His children’s lives (Rom. 8:28).

When It’s Hard to Love Yourself

When It’s Hard to Love Yourself

NICKI KOZIARZ

“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31 (NIV)

If you were in my thoughts for the day, I think you’d be surprised how many negative thoughts pass through my brain. Things like:

Not good enough.
Not smart enough. 
Not worthy enough. 
Just not enough. 

I’ve never been a highly confident person. But I also wouldn’t say I have extremely low self-confidence. I find myself somewhere in between, bouncing between the high and low.

I know what the Bible says about who I am, and I know who God thinks I am. But I still find myself teetering between what I know versus what I feel.

And if I’m honest, sometimes what I’m feeling comes out in the way I treat others.

I never wake up and make the conscious decision to treat others the way I feel. But I often find myself at the end of the day wondering why I said what I said, reacted the way I reacted, and felt the negative feelings toward someone else I felt.

After years of wrestling with this, I’ve come to understand it’s a love issue.

One reason why I think we struggle so much to live out the second greatest commandment is because honestly, we struggle to love ourselves the right way.

There’s a saying: Hurt people hurt people. 

We could insert a dozen other words into this phrase, such as:

People who struggle to love themselves, struggle to love their neighbors.

Somehow, the message to love yourself like God does was turned into pride. People with too much confidence in themselves were deemed arrogant or full of themselves.

Nobody wanted that.

And so we ran the opposite direction, creating this unhealthy consequence in thinking low of others. But that route seems to have left us in disobedience to this command.

If Jesus said loving our neighbor was the second greatest commandment, we need to understand what the first is. It’s found in Mark 12:30:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (NIV)

Thankfully, God doesn’t just expect us to “get this.” He provides so much Scripture for us to fill our minds with His love, in order to live out His commands.

1. Love God with all your heart.

What we receive is what we can give. Daily, we need to receive this unending love God has for us. Receiving what we need is the only way we don’t run “dry” in our ability to give love to others.

2. Love God with all your soul.

Our souls are a complicated place. One way we can love God with our souls is to seek repentance, a daily cleansing. The more we receive God’s forgiveness, the more we can offer forgiveness to others.

3. Love God with all your mind.

As we think of ourselves how God thinks of us, it becomes easier to think of others like God thinks of them. God is not the author of anyone unworthy or unloveable. May we take captive these thoughts and replace them with the thoughts God has for us.

4. Love God with all your strength.

Each day we get up and keep going. Strength isn’t a place of perfection but a place of perseverance. When we don’t give up on God, it allows us to have an extra dose of grace to not give up on ourselves or on others.

The way we view God is so closely intertwined with the way we view ourselves that we can’t separate the two. And the way we view ourselves and the way we treat others is so intertwined we also cannot separate the two.

So if it feels hard to love others today, maybe we start by loving ourselves. Let’s receive what we need — so we can give to others what they need. Then, we can live out Mark 12:31 and watch the world around us change, one step of love at a time.

Dear God, thank You that You love us even when it’s hard for us to love ourselves. Help us receive Your love in a way that makes us become so incredibly generous in our souls to give love away. Thank You for always meeting us where we are, not where we wish we were. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Deuteronomy 6:5, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (ESV)

Psalm 63:6, “I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.” (NLT)

Seeking God for the Right Reasons

Seeking God for the Right Reasons
by Sarah Phillips

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

I ran across an article years ago that really touched me. In her piece "A Change of Plans," Lindsy Pike details the excruciating decision to call off her wedding to a man she loved dearly. Reflecting on the mix of pain and peace that comes with any situation where we must give up something precious, Pike rewinds a few centuries to Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac:

"God promised to give Abraham a son and finally, after years of waiting, God came through, with Isaac. Why in the world would God ask Abraham to give up that gift? In my opinion, it is for the same reason He asked me to call off my wedding. God wants us to love Him more than we love His promises. The minute we get those out of order, He readjusts us.”

While we don’t fully know the mind of God in Abraham’s situation, Pike’s simple thought sheds light on a struggle I think all of us encounter at some time in our lives – the struggle to love God above everything else, even His blessings. God wants us to love Him because of who He is, not what He can give us. Yet, how often do we confuse our love of God’s promises with love of Him? How often do we see Him as the divine blessing machine, ready to dole out happiness on our terms? The popularity of "prosperity theology" reveals how easy it is for believers to twist love of God into the pursuit of earthly happiness.

To be honest, it’s not just greed that gets in the way of loving God. It’s also a limited understanding of who God is. I used to wonder how some Christians could sit for over an hour praying. Is God really that interesting? I’d wonder. This type of thinking reveals a fundamental flaw in how I perceived God, and I think that flaw is what keeps many from coming to Christ in the first place. It’s easy to see Him as limited like we are limited. It’s easy to forget that God is truly our all in all. As C.S. Lewis once said, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”

Still, had I not gone through a similar situation, I might not have believed Pike’s sincerity when she says: "I am thankful for His grace that saved me from ruining my life by pursuing my dream."

In a “reach for the stars, be anything you can be” culture, the idea that pursuing any dream could ruin my life seems foreign. The more I think about it, though, the more I see that living outside God’s will – even if it is for a “good reason” – is a recipe for failure.

Yet, when we give up our dreams for something greater - for Someone greater than ourselves - we begin to see we can trust God no matter what. We find solace in the incredible peace that comes with knowing that even if life here includes sorrow or dreams unfulfilled, there is a God that transcends not only all that’s missing in this life, but also all the good this life has to offer.

Intersecting Faith & Life: This week, do something for God without expecting any reward or blessing in return.

Further Reading

John 16:33

Discerning Lies from Truth

Discerning Lies from Truth
By: Kia Stephens

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” - Genesis 3:4-5 (NIV)

There are lies that immediately sound like lies and then there are those that closely resemble the truth. In those instances, we have to be able to exercise discernment. This is the only way to identify falsehood and refute it with the truth of God’s Word.

In the book of Genesis 2:16 (NIV), the Lord God commanded Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Here we see God gave Adam a clear command. God explained why He gave the command and he took the time to point out all of the alternative options in the garden that Adam could choose instead.

From a parenting standpoint, God clearly created boundaries and parameters for Adam and Eve to follow. Unfortunately, the breakdown in communication occurred when Satan, in a cunning and sly way, deceived Eve into believing what God said was not true.

This is a lesson for all of us. When thoughts come to us, we should measure their authenticity against God’s Word. We have the luxury of having God’s Word as close as our nearest device if we so choose. All we need to do is read it.

Eve, on the other hand, had to rely on her memory and it proved to be an insufficient match for the serpent. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5 (NIV) The serpent told a lie. No, Eve would not die an immediate physical death, but she would eventually die. The devil knew this when he approached her.

He also knew that she would die a spiritual death as well. The serpent did not explain this to Eve because had he done so, the decision of whether or not to obey God would have been an easier no. When we are tempted to disobey God, we too need to weigh all the possible consequences of our actions. What may seem like an okay or harmless decision could have lasting repercussions.

The Serpent sweetened his scheme by tempting Eve with the possibility of becoming like God. He appealed to a secret desire in her heart to be all knowing. This lets us know that the devil knows us intimately. He can hear our thoughts and use them to impact our decisions.

Once our desires are involved resisting lies becomes that much more difficult. We must discern whether opportunities that are placed before us come from God or are traps set by the enemy. The only way to do this is to immerse ourselves in the word of God. In doing so we can readily recognize when an opportunity is rooted in lies or founded on truth.

A Prayer to be Sober-Minded

A Prayer to be Sober-MindedBy: Lindsay Tedder

“Be sober-minded, alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.” - 1 Peter 5:8

Maybe you’ve heard the verse above?

Maybe you read it just now and thought to yourself “great…another reminder that the enemy is lurking around every corner looking to devour me. Fabulous.”

You may have even said “Ugh…been there, read that…next!”

But stick with me a minute, I think it will be worth it.

Sitting in my living room with several women during a small group, someone read this verse aloud. She was sharing her thoughts when my own began to speak so loudly inside my brain that I could no longer make out what she was saying. My brain clung to the word “anyone.” Never before had that word stuck out to me, but in that moment, it was alarmingly loud.

You see, in the eyes of the enemy, you and I are not anything special. We are “anyone” … “a dime a dozen” … “nothing to write home about.” In the eyes of the enemy we mean nothing. He is looking for literally anyone who can be distracted from their duties in Christ long enough to be devoured.

I, all too often, fall victim to the distracted mentality that quickly becomes a breeding ground for the enemy. I am a work-from-home mom to a busy toddler and the distractions of simply parenting all day can easily keep me far removed from my duties in Christ. That’s where the beginning of the verse comes into play. But what does it look like to be sober-minded and alert? If I’m honest, the sound of it just makes more tired than I already am.

What I often fail to realize is that this call to be alert and of sober mind should be my utmost priority. I should place this above everything else in my life. Before I clean the kitchen, before I make the 8000th snack of the day, before I make my beloved coffee; I should be controlling my thoughts and returning them to my Creator.

During the first couple years as a new mom, I felt anything but alert. In fact, I more often than not, just felt extremely exhausted and on the verge of failure. I didn’t comprehend that in order to be the parent that He called me to be, I had to invest in myself first. I had to show my son what it looked like to struggle, who to turn to in my time of need, and how to correct my course, in order to gain that alert and sober-minded mentality.

It helped that as I matured in motherhood, my boy was maturing in age and comprehension. We grew together during this wild ride. We created a space where he can learn by example and share in my struggles and my growth.

Are you alert and sober-minded? Take a minute and evaluate your spiritual life – what is distracting you and causing you to fix your gaze on something or someone other than Christ? Even good things like our children, our jobs and our church can pull our gaze inward instead of upward. Take a minute and pray this prayer for sober-mindness, and trust that God is eager and ready to give it to you:

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the reminder that the enemy is looking for anyone. Thank you for letting that word stand out to me that day. I realize that being alert and sober-minded is a moment by moment choice. I know that I easily get distracted and derailed by the chaos of this world. Please help me to surrender my thoughts to you in an effort to remain alert and sober-minded. Please help to keep me more in step with You and less distracted by the chaos of this world. Thank you for the reminder that failing isn’t really failing so much as it is learning. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for creating me unique. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for making me your most prized possession and not seeing me as “anyone.” In your eyes, I am someone. I am your beloved child. In Jesus' name, Amen.