God's Normal Way of Beating Me Upside The Head

 There's the old joke about the farmer and his wife going to town with a cart hitched to a mule. After a little while, the mule quit going, so the farmer had to call out "Giddyap!" The mule started on down the road.  After a little while longer, the same thing happens. When the mule quit the third time, the farmer gets down, picks up a 2 x 4 from the back of the cart, and goes up to the mule, popping him right on the top of the head.

The wife screams "WHY DID YOU DO THAT??!!" The farmer answered: "Sometimes my mule quits paying attention to my voice, and I have to catch his attention by beating him upside the head!"

My latest upside the head beating was a simple post by my close spiritual friend Stephanie Pittock. God has given this woman MUCH to be patient about in her much-shorter-than-mine life. [At least she does not, currently, have to put up with Buffalo blizzards, right Steph?] I routinely read In Touch ministries's daily devotional, because I have long loved the Word as explained by Charles Stanley. Dr. Stanley has 30 Life Principles, based on a simple concept, which is also listed as one of the principles (principle 2): Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.

So, what Stephanie did was to post yesterday's daily devotional on Facebook and specifically tag me. One of the blessings of faith partners is that God and the Spirit use them to tickle your ears in the right way and pay deep attention to something you otherwise might be superficially reviewing. I took His lead by her hand and went over the devotionals on Following God's Schedule and Developing Patience word by word a couple of times each (well, maybe more times than that. When I get in the zone I'm in the zone, and only God knows how long I am in there and what I am doing). I have copied the verses for those devotionals here, taken from The Message translation posted on The Bible Gateway

James 1 The Message (MSG)

 I, James, am a slave of God and the Master Jesus, writing to the twelve tribes scattered to Kingdom Come: Hello! Faith Under Pressure
 ^2-4Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Romans 11:33-36 The Message (MSG)

 ^33-36Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out.

   Is there anyone around who can explain God?
   Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?
   Anyone who has done him such a huge favor
      that God has to ask his advice?

   Everything comes from him;
   Everything happens through him;
   Everything ends up in him.
   Always glory! Always praise!
      Yes. Yes. Yes.
FOR THIS BLOG: I think it's enough to present the verses and that introduction. Otherwise I will REALLY start rambling and go way too long. I will pick up from here, hopefully tomorrow.

Following God's Schedule - Dr. Stanley

Following God's Schedule

Read | Romans 11:33-36
Most of us enjoy feeling in control of our own schedule and grow frustrated when things don't go according to plan. Yet if we truly desire to walk in the center of God's perfect will, we must become willing to cooperate with His time frame.
Consider how you pray about situations in your life. Without realizing it, you may be demanding that God follow the schedule you've constructed according to your very limited human wisdom. Yet if we believe He is who He says He is, how can surrendering to His way not be to our benefit? Think about His unique, praiseworthy qualities:

• His all-encompassing knowledge. Unlike us, the Lord has complete awareness about our world and the details of every individual life--past, present, and future.
• His complete wisdom. God understands man's every motive, whereas none of us are able to accurately discern people's intentions. We make choices based on partial information, whereas He has the wisdom to take action based on truth.
• His unconditional love. Our Creator is always motivated by love and constantly has our best in mind. Unless we trust His heart, our view of reality will be distorted.
• His perfect sufficiency. At just the right time, God will provide us with everything we need to carry out His plan.

Submitting to God's timetable requires faith and courage. Believe in the goodness of His heart and His plans--and determine to wait until He gives the signal to move forward. Then, as you follow His schedule, you'll experience the joy of watching Him make all things beautiful in His timing.

Copyright 2012 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.

Patience - Dr. Stanley

Developing Patience

Read | James 1:1-4
When people confide to me that they are praying for patience, I often ask what else they're doing to acquire a calm and gentle heart. Patience isn't so much something believers receive as it is an attribute that they develop over time and through experience.
Think of patience as a muscle that you have to use in order to see it build. To that end, believers should recognize difficulty as an opportunity to flex their patience. The human instinct is to cry out to God in bewilderment when tribu-lation comes knocking. We blame. We resist. We complain. What we don't do is say, "Thank You, Father--it's time to grow in patience!" People aren't trained to think that way, but according to the Bible, that is exactly how Christians are to respond.
James tells us to consider trials a joy (1:2). But we often fail at this, don't we? Humanly speaking, praising the Lord for tribulation is unnatural. However, doing so begins to make sense to believers when they cling to God's promise that good comes from hardship (Rom. 8:28). We are not waiting on the Lord in vain. We can praise Him for the solution He will bring, the lives He will change, or the spiritual fruit He will develop in us.
Accepting hardship as a means of growth is a radical concept in this world. Even more extreme is the believer who praises the Lord for the storm. But God's followers have cause to rejoice. Tribulation increases our patience so that we can stand firm on His promises and await His good timing.

Copyright 2012 In Touch Ministries, Inc. All rights reserved. www.intouch.org. In Touch grants permission to print for personal use only.