Make God Your First and Not Your Last Resort

3rd In Standing on The Promises Series

by David W Cowan

God calls us all away from our "I got this. I will call on you if I need you." attitude that the flesh teaches us through our years. He knows that little by little this self confidence turns into pride and our Creator cannot abide a prideful heart.

In Proverbs 29:23 it says, "A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will bring him honor."

Our Lord's intent is to save us disappointment and heartache in every thing we do, in every decision we make and it is so important to Him and our relationship with the Father that He gave us a promise to stand on that saves us from our regret.

Also in Proverb, chapter 3, verses 5 and six spell out this promise and it's conditions.

"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,"

How many times have you made a decision and found yourself caught in the middle of the consequences? Personally, I can't count the times on the fingers of both hands! Usually, then, we get on our knees and pray about it and God either shows us a way out or lets us know we just have to come out on the other side.

I try to say this verse at the start of most days, acknowledge to God, who already knows. that I trust in Him with all my heart and ask Him to direct me through my decisions of the day. I also do my best not to get caught up in the day and talk with Him about my decisions before I pull the trigger. I try to compare what I feel I should do with His nature and if the two don't match, I rethink my decisions.

In dealing this way the decisions of the day, I am standing behind my trust in Him, I'm putting my understanding under the direction of my creator and acknowledging Him in all my ways....all the things I must do to stand on His promise for direction. Now, if I could just do that perfectly!

Think about the words "In all your ways acknowledge Him". Then think of all the decisions we make in a day and ask yourself "Did I acknowledge God and what He would want when I made all those decisions?" The truth is, probably not. I think that we think that some decisions are just to small to bother Him with, but that's just not true.

In the twelfth chapter of Luke, verse 7, Jesus tells us "Indeed the very hairs of your head are numbered." I think that if He keeps track of each hair on our head, the decisions we make in our life, which became His when we came into relationship with Christ, are far more important and life changing for our journey home.

I challenge you to try it and see how much better your day is, how much more peaceful your mind and heart feel. Start by asking Him what you should have for breakfast and, then, thank Him for your daily bread. 

A Peaceful Promise

 The next in the Standing On The Promises Series

by David Cowan

In the 26th Chapter of Isaiah, verse 3, we are given a promise of peace. "You will keep him in perfect peace, who's mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

What steals your peace? What keeps you from calm and rest during your getting up and laying down?

For me, it is worry, worry about things I cannot change. There is a difference between worry and planning your day. I always plan out what I will do for the next day and what my guys will work on for the day, but gradually that planning seems to turn to worry and my peace is gone.

What if it rains? What if my parts don't come in? What if someone is sick tomorrow? What if what I measured to fit, doesn't fit correctly? All these things I have no real control over, but they steal my peace.

So, let's look at God's promise again. "You will keep him in perfect peace, who's mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." 

When we remember that God is in control of all things and especially those things we have no control over, we can breath a sigh of relief.  Jesus talked about this very thing in the 6th Chapter of Matthew. Starting in verse 25, He sums it up starting in verse 31. "Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

There will be disruptions and troubles in our life, but God, when we trust in Him, will handle the eventual outcome to our benefit. Our job is to rely on Him, reflecting to the outside world our trust in Him, and deal with the present days complications as He has taught us and shows us how. That, personally, gives me a peace in the midst of chaos that only comes when I know in my heart God has my back.

It's a promise. 

Standing on the Promises...

By David W Cowan

If you find yourself here reading this post, you have started a series. How many times you return is up to you. How many teachings will be in this series is up to God. 

I think that we can all agree that within God's Word there are many promises for His people and if God made a promise, He is not going to take it away or fail to live up to the promise. Unlike us, His children, He is always faithful and can never fail.

To stand on one of these promises, we must fully understand the promise and how it fits in with the nature of God who made the promise. There are many I have read and counted on over the last 50 years of my life and some, when I did, discouraged me because standing on them did not provide the results I had hoped. In every case, it was because I didn't understand the promise or failed to align myself with God's nature.

I first want to address Gods promise in Deuteronomy 31:6. Israel is getting ready to cross over the Jordan River, after refusing the first time and wandering through the desert, again, for all those years. Moses tells the people the word he received from God, "Be strong and of  good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Now, some will say that was an Old Testament promise and doesn't apply to us of the New Covenant, but the Apostle Paul makes it plain in Hebrews 13:5 that we stand on that promise, too. He says to the church, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"

Most believers have, at some point, stood on a promise because of some situation in their life, but not felt that things were getting any better, like God was moving away from them instead of closer; ignoring them instead of remedying the problem or situation.  Here is where understanding God's nature and the promise you are standing on becomes vital.

I  want to share an example of what I mean from my personal life. A little over twenty years ago,  I went through a divorce. Totally unhappy for years, I decided that  was the solution to my unhappiness and along with the divorce, I began a path of  bad life choices which did not align with the rededication of my life to God. I had made new commitments to that relationship and Satan came at my life with renewed vigor.

The debts  I took with me after the divorce and a strained credit climate ended up taking me into bankruptcy and I felt God had deserted me. The downward spiral began to make me feel  like God had indeed "left me and forsook me". The bankruptcy plan I chose was one to pay back my creditors over a five year period. In this case, the court decides how much of your paycheck you can keep each pay period and it isn't much.

Oddly, the thing I noticed, after a short time, was that the lack of money sometimes meant little to eat towards the end of the week, not much activity outside of work, things like that, but those things bothered me less than not being able to tithe. I  had gotten involved again in my church and tithing to me was a heart felt gift and worship for me. I didn't look at it as paying for anything God had done for me, but it made me feel, I don't know, ...appreciative! There just wasn't anything left over at the end of the week. I spoke to my Pastor about it and he assured me that it was okay, that God knew my heart and suggested that I might substitute some physical service to the church body. I began helping in  Bible Study, etc.

It still bothered me, though. On one of my morning runs, my prayer and meditation time, I happened to notice a dollar bill sticking out of the corner of a fast food bag someone had thrown out the window. I stopped and picked it up, along with some change and kept running. As the run progressed and my meditation continued, I prayed to God and said, Lord from this day forward until I get back on my feet, any money I find is Yours. For the next few years, I would find anywhere from five dollars, up to forty one week and I was able to tithe through the bankruptcy period.

Along with God answering my prayer, I begin to realize that He had not deserted me, I had deserted Him, in part. He was right there  where I left Him, ready and willing to take me back and comfort me in my distress. The fact is, God cannot be in the presence of sin. I had to confess and repent and return to Him and things began to look up even down that difficult road I had chosen. The consequences of my decisions did not go away, but I was comforted by God's presence in my life.  Now, I am much more conscious of how my current nature and God's unchangeable righteousness can fit together and, that, only because of the work of Jesus on the cross.

2 Chronicles 7:14 spells it out. "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek  My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I see these two verses as bookends of the same promise. God knows He will never leave us, but that we will move off the path He has set for us. He has, however, included a way back for us.

A Friend For Eternity

"And the Lord said, 'Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.'" Luke 22:31,32

As we have grown up, we've all had friends, best friends, who we thought would stick by us to the very end no matter what. I've had five or six in the 62 years I've been alive and maybe two or three are still there and haven't deserted or turned their backs on me for one reason or another. The others I would like to think I would hold up my end of the deal for regardless of how they have stuck, or not, with me, but I have my doubts.

When you look at this passage from Luke, remember...Peter was one of Jesus' closest disciples. He was the rock. Jesus knows, however, as we read in the verses that follow, that he will deny Him three times, vehemently in the end. For the man part of Jesus (fully God and fully man) this had to be an almost heart breaking denial, but what did Jesus do? He prayed to His Father, Almighty God, that his faith would, ultimately, not fail and that he would return to Jesus and bring strength to the Brotherhood, which we see come to fruition.

That is a friend no matter what. We know Jesus as a Savior to all who believe in Him, but this, to me, reveals Jesus as that Savior and the friend we all sang about as kids and taught our kids to sing...,"What a Friend We Have in Jesus"

I note a change, if temporarily, in their relationship. Simon was his given name. Jesus had changed his name to Peter , the rock. At this point, the rock was not going to be there, but Jesus prayed for him and the rock would return and strengthen the brethren who would take the Gospel to the world.

Jesus, an eternal friend, no matter what. He knows your heart. Maybe we should take the heart of our friends into consideration when we feel neglected or abandoned and pray for them, that they may return to us in the future.

This verse has always given me hope. I know I am not always what my Savior expects of me, but I know He is praying for me and I do always seem to return, sometimes a little worse for the wear, but that is my own fault. Without my eternal friend's prayers, I would still be wandering in the eternal darkness! 

Thank you, Jesus!

CUFI Daily Devotional April 17th 2020

The Path To The Cross

I am getting ready to start an on-line Bible Study with Bible Gateway. The Study is called The Path To The Cross. I opted for the accompanying study book and began reading it today to prep for the first video class next week. At the end of the reading prior to the video, the study book asked two questions.

The first was what I thought a life of passionate obedience and faithful devotion to God looked like.
The question brought to my mind two verses from the Bible, one from the Old Testament and one from the new. The first was Micah 6:8

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

Wow, sounds simple. I thought about it, though. I must take every thought and action and hold it to the light of this verse. Are they just, even if my worldly mind does not feel just response is required? Are they merciful, even in the face of the unmerciful? And, are they humble even if the humility goes against what I feel I deserve. Not as easy as the few words of the Lord's requirements.

The second verse was from the Book of Romans, Chapter 13, verse 8: "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, 'You shall not commit adultery,' 'You shall not murder,' 'You shall not steal,' 'You shall not bear false witness,' 'You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."

Another wow, when you really think about it. Every thought and action must now be exposed to the light of love. They must be totally loving regardless of the thoughts or actions that my own are prompted by from another, another maybe not so loving.

The second question was equally thought provoking. It wanted to know what sacrifices might be required in order to obey God and love Him with all my heart, soul and strength? My list started pretty quickly.....1) My pride, 2)The self-importance of my desires, 3)My personal opinion, 4)My personal vengeance, 5)My goals, my wants, my desires. Basically the "My" part of life. Sacrifices really are uncomfortable when they invade your personal space.....

If you feel the tug, share your comments or personal observations on the two questions.

Just This Side of Understanding

Do you ever read something, scripture in particular, and feel that there is something there you just don't understand?

It is good to contemplate those things. It may be that God wants you to look deeper, to reach into His Word and pull things together, to pray and meditate about the passage that puzzles you. If that be the case, the Holy Spirit will reward your efforts with new understanding.

It may also be that you are not ready at this point in your faith; that you are yet to have the ability to understand that which escapes you. It may that you are, as God said to me this morning, "You are just this side of understanding." I believe that is part of our faith; the part that says even if I don't understand, I believe and trust.

If we get all tied up in having to understand every little (or big) thing, we can miss a lot that God has for us on the road that we are traveling. At times we have to be an Abraham....just pack up and head out to a place He will (at some point) show us. This can be physically, vocationally or theologically. Jesus told His disciples, when they were brought before the courts, not to worry about what they would say, that The Holy Spirit would speak through them. Do you think that they really understood? I don't and I doubt they did when it happened, because they were "just this side of understanding."

 God tells us "My thoughts are not your thoughts." I am just happy when God decides I am ready for something knew and opens my mind and understanding just a bit! So, I keep reading and praying and listening. I can't imagine what it will be like to cross over to the side of understanding and be illuminated by all of God's Glory, to worship the Source of all knowledge, to understand the bottomless love and compassion of the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, to give eternal thanks to my Savior.

Its all just over there....