Shalom, welcome
to October 14th
><//>--------------------Thought for the Day
How big a part of my life is shared in the fellowship of born-again believers? Is it just one of my activities and a small one at that? Do I only fellowship with other believers now and then and sometimes never fellowship at all? Do I think of
my brothers and sisters only occasionally? Am I reticent about mentioning the subject of the Lord to people who may need help? Or does
Messiah, Christ, fill a large part of my life? Is He the foundation of my whole life? Where would I be without
Him? Does everything I have and do depend on my Christian foundation?
Is the Lord the foundation on which I build my life?
><//>--------------------Meditation for the Day
The Sacrifice
Messiah, our Passover Lamb, is sacrificed for us. ”I am the Lamb of God. Lay upon Me your sins, your failures, and your shortcomings. My sacrifice has atoned for all. I am the mediator between God and Man, the man
Meshiach Yeshua, Christ Jesus.
Do not dwell upon the past. You make My Sacrifice of no effect.
No! Realize that in Me you have all, complete forgiveness, complete companionship, and complete healing.
><//>--------------------Prayer for the Day
Father, we pray that we may not let the beast in us hold us back from our spiritual destiny. We pray that we may rise and walk upright. Amen.
A Disciple's Reflections: Confusion is The Culprit
"Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth."
Genesis 11:1-9
Beloved, together let us look at a troublesome condition that no longer works for
us –
Confusion.
Confusion is a difficult feeling. Confusion often brings with it fear, insecurity, inadequacy and shame.
I can understand the fear. It’s scary to get lost. I remember getting lost in K-Mart when I was little and being rescued by a saleslady who brought me to the service counter and called for my Mom on the intercom. Feeling confused is like being lost inside our own selves. We don't know what we think because we have too many thoughts running into each other.
We all can admit to suffering this condition confusion. This condition
not only bring disturbance of soul, but it also opens the gates for unclean
spirits to enter and oppress.
What we can't accept is the insecurity and inadequacy that grows out of confusion. After all, what do we expect? We are not perfect beings. We are not masters of the universe. We are not all powerful.
So why
ought we to feel inadequate when we find ourselves floundering around a bit in life?
The tower of Babel story ends a series of stories that begins with
Genesis 2. Each story includes God's blessings, humanity's disobedience, and God's grace. Even Noah and the flood ends with a rainbow and the promise that it won't happen again. But there is no grace at the end of
Babel. There is simply a word picture of a divided humanity. They can't communicate; they are confused.
Did you know that God did this then to delay the things we are
experiencing today? The smaller the world, the greater the
wickedness man can accomplish to our very destruction.
Confusion
is also a
sign of sin. It isn't a sin, in and of itself; it is a sign of the presence
of that deeper meaning of sin, original sin. At the very root of our
existence – where all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God – lies
confusion. We don't know who we are. We don't know what to do; or we do that
which we know we ought not to do. We aren't content to let God be God. We
keep trying to rise above this condition, take control of the lives of those
around us, and build a tower to heaven. But it never works, does it beloved?
It
never will
for we can never come out of this confusion on our own. God, in His
infinite Mercy has done this for us. Biblically, the counterpoint to the
Tower of Babel is the scene in
Acts 2 when all of those gathered in Jerusalem to hear Peter proclaim
the Gospel, and are able to hear and understand one another because they are
speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit. The death and resurrection of
Jesus has healed humanity's great divide – from one another and from God. The presence of the Holy Spirit removes the confusion.
Yes, beloved, one of the benefits of "...walking according to the spirit" is
that we may be free of confusion. We walk in a knowing that brings
assurance and peace. We cannot achieve this in the power of the
flesh even when redeemed.
Sometimes, when we think we're angry, frustrated, or depressed when what we really are is confused. Good old honest confusion. Sometimes, when husbands and wives can't communicate with one another, the problem is that they are confused. Anger and frustration are simply growing out of the confusion.
Maybe, sometimes, the answer to confusion begins with the diagnosis of the real problem - "I think I am feeling confused." – followed by taking a little time to
pull back, slow down, and go to God in prayer. If God healed the confusion once, he can do it again. Prayers for patience, clarity and discernment can be the first step in moving past confusion to confident action.
Let us consider this option we have before us in the Lord, dear one,
during these troubling Endtimes. Let us review the Beatitudes to
guide us into the proper attitude in the Lord.
Let us pray: Gracious Lord, everyone has moments when they feel lost and confused and they don't know where to turn. In such times, help us to let go of the compulsion to always have to figure things out on our own. Open us to the power of Spirit speaking to us in prayers and in conversation with trusted people, that our confusion might be transformed into clarity and confidence. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Longer, Lasting Pleasure
"Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; Your Spirit is good. Lead me in the land of uprightness."
– Psalm 143:10
We
have all
learned some bad habits through following our own will. We see our natural
instinct is to seek personal satisfaction first; many times at the expense
of doing what is upright. Therefore, many decisions that we make are flawed
from the very start. Many of us make lifelong decisions from our instincts,
which are of the flesh. We should be making them in the spirit, which is in
fellowship with God.
I am amazed at how often we seek "temporary" gratification over eternal blessings. Each day thousands of actions are driven by the will of man. If we could just pause and seek God's will before we make a move, think of what a great world this would be.
The traps and temptations of this world are great these days. The promise of worldly pleasure and security is so great that many will succumb to the call of evil. We must be taught to do God's will. And if we learn well, we will follow God's paths to the land of uprightness. It has been said that,
"Our character is what we stand for, our reputation is what we fall for!" Teach
us to do Your will, for You are our God; Your Spirit is good. Today, may
our strongest desire be to learn to do God's will; to trade temporary pleasures for eternal blessings.
"Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths."
– Psalm 25:4
Your Comments
Our Discussion Board:
http://www.believershope.com/discus
Please have a blessed day, be hopeful, be encouraged, and know you are not
alone.
“God Calling” compiled by A. J. Russell.
"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" Hazelton – adapted.
Kerry Nelson writes Confusion—The Culprit.
Greg Candelaria writes Longer, Lasting Pleasure.
Barry Gray writes A Disciple’s Reflections.
