THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

July 27, 2022

LIFE IN THE FOLD

Have you ever been praying and praying and praying for God to do something; but when He answers you either didn't like His response or you expected more? Perhaps you felt like He only partially answered and left some things unanswered or undone.

Honestly, there are times when God answers our prayers and we don't like His response. We were hoping for something different and wonder why God did what He did. Other times He just tells us what to do, and we have to get up and obey and do some of the work ourselves. I think perhaps that is what often causes us the most distress; God does what we cannot, but expects us to get up and do what we can do. And we just don't want to do what He expects or wants us to do! But if we refuse to respond, then we will miss out on seeing God at work through us and miss out on blessings and miss receiving what He has in store for us.

We can pray and pray, but if we fail to respond when God gives us instructions, then we will miss out on miracles and experiencing Him in awesome ways.

In Exodus chapter 3, Moses has a spectacular God encounter. Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. God spoke to him from the middle of the bush, "Moses! Moses! Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground."

God continued speaking to Moses that He had seen the affliction and oppression of His people in Egypt. He told Moses that He was sending him to go to Egypt to go to Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

Moses' response was, "Who am I?" But God answered by saying, "I will be with you!" Moses protested a lot, but God had an answer for every one of Moses' arguments. Even after that, Moses said, "Lord, please! Send anyone else."

Moses took his wife and sons and headed back to Egypt. God instructed Moses on what to say, what to do, how to lead.... yet Moses had to be obedient and do what God told him to do. During his time before Pharaoh and during the forty years that the Israelites were on their journey, God did many miraculous things that Moses could not do himself; but most of the time, God spoke and gave instructions to Moses and he had to obey and do what God told him to do.

Had Moses refused to obey and remained as his father-in-laws sheepherder, he would have missed out on so many miracles and encounters with God! He heard the voice of God, had personal encounters with God up on the mountain, was given laws and commandments for the Israelites, and was greatly used by God. But he had to do what he could and obey God; then God did the impossible that Moses could not do.

Moses died and Joshua took over as leader of the Israelites. They crossed into the Promised Land and God promised to be with Joshua, just as He had been with Moses. When you read the book of Joshua, you can see where God did many miraculous things; yet you also read where many times God gave Joshua instructions on what to do, and Joshua had to obey in order to see results.

In Joshua chapter 6 we read the story of Jericho. God promised that He was going to give Jericho to the Israelites and they would experience a great victory. God could have done the work all by Himself; but instead, He gave Joshua instructions on what he and the Israelites were supposed to do.

They were to march around the town once a day for six days. God instructed them on who was to march where and what they were to do. On the seventh day, they were to march around the walls of Jericho seven times. The seventh time around, the priests were to sound the long blast on their horns and the people were to shout as loud as they could. When they obeyed and did this, the walls of Jericho collapsed and God gave them a great victory that day.

The people did what they could do, in obedience to God. They marched around the walls for seven days. That probably seemed foolish to a lot of them, and even more foolish to the people of Jericho who were looking over the top of the walls and saw them. But the Israelites obeyed the instructions that God gave through Joshua. They did what they could; then God did the impossible and caused the walls to collapse. Then the people had to go into the city and destroy everything, except for Rahab and her family.

In Acts chapter 12, King Herod began to persecute some believers in the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jewish people, he decided to have Peter arrested. He imprisoned Peter, placing under heavy guard. But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.

The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to wake him up. "Quick! Get up!" The chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." Peter did. "Now put on your coat and follow me,"

So Peter left the prison cell, following the angel. They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and walked down the street, then the angel left. Peter ran on to the house where the believers were praying for him and told them what had happened to him.

God did the impossible that Peter could not do himself; then Peter had to do what he could do. God removed the shackles from Peter's wrists, caused the guards to continue sleeping while all of this was taking place, blinded the other guards so that they could not see what was going on, unlocked and opened the city gate so that Peter could enter the city. But Peter had to dress himself, put on his own shoes and coat, and walk out.

Had Peter just laid there thinking, "If this is really God, then He will dress me and carry me to safety," he would have missed out on God's plan for his escape. But he had to dress himself and walk out of the prison. God did the impossible, and Peter did the rest.

I wonder how many times we miss out on the blessing and provision of God, because we are sitting still doing nothing, waiting on a miracle, when God is saying, "You need to get up and do something! I'll do what you cannot do, but you must do what you can." We need to dress ourselves and put our sandals on, so to speak, but we want God to do it for us.

People can beg and plead for God to meet their financial needs and provide food and all that they and their family needs. Yet they fail to get out and get a job, having excuses on why they can't or shouldn't work. They want God to provide for their every need and do all the work for them, without them having to do anything. Then they become depressed and angry and disheartened when they have very little and are experiencing lack. They may even blame God, thinking, "I've been faithful and trusted you! I've tried to stand upon the scriptures and Your promises. Yet we lack so much and have very little." God is saying, "I'll provide for you and your needs. I'll strengthen and help you. But you have to do what you can do and get a job and be faithful to go to work every day! You do what you can, and I'll do what you cannot."

I've heard people say that they will tithe or help those in need, when they become more financially stable and have more. But that is never a stipulation for giving or helping in the bible. We are told to give according to what we have; and do so cheerfully and with a generous heart. If we can't give when we have a little, we're not going to be faithful to give when we have a lot. They want God to bless them with abundance, when He can't trust them with the little that they do have. We do what we can do, give what we can give, and God then will take care of our needs and provide for those things that we do not have.

I encourage you today to believe God for the impossible situations or needs in your life. Be confident that nothing it too difficult for Him and He can do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you could ever think of. Trust God for the miraculous! But when God urges you to obey and do what you can do, be faithful to respond. We do what we can, and God will do what we cannot!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I am sure I heard a quote, but can't find it anywhere, now. In a nutshell, it said that some people want to define sin as hurting someone else (that is, not showing love for our neighbor). But a more deep definition is doing anything we know is against the will of God. But an even deeper definition includes knowing God's will, but not doing it.

When God tells us to do something, and we refuse, we are rebelling against Him as much as if we know he tells us not to do something and we do it.

We can use excuses, like "Who am I to do that?", or "No one would listen to me.", or "I'm not really sure that's God telling me that." Of course, that last one is hard to argue. The best excuses are. Listen to your heart. If it is just an excuse, you should know so. But that's one reason we encourage you to read your Bible often. It helps to know the difference.

ON THE MENEWE:

Homemade Restaurant Style Salsa

Blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor, to your desired consistency. If you like it spicier, add jalapeno juice, to taste. Store in a mason jar in the refrigerator.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

I was listening to a podcast a couple of days ago and the question was asked of one of the people, "What is some of the greatest advice you've ever been given?" The man's response was to learn how to laugh at yourself. He said that people take life way too seriously and get stressed and deal with anxiety, and forget how to laugh. I believe that is so true! We listen to the news, get worried about gas prices and the economy, stress about our nation and our families and things that could possibly happen..... We have so many burdens that we carry, that we tend to focus on those things and forget to laugh and enjoy life. We forget that we are told to cast all of our cares, our worries, upon God, knowing that He cares for us. If we would do that more often, and leave those things in God's hands instead of taking them back over and over again, then we would find more pleasure and joy in life.

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

It's a beautiful day to stop dwelling on things you can't control. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org