Welcome to my randomized study & miscellaneous thoughts about the Awesome God of the universe, who He is and what He wants us to be.

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Verse of the Day

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Today's Quote

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Who's Life Is It Anyway?
Recognizing God's Timing and Opportunities

Have you ever thought or tried to do a good deed for God or someone else only to have it backfire on you or fail miserabley? Why would God allow this to happen? Why do we fail when we are trying to do good for the world?

Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (KJV)

2803 chashab (khaw-shab'); a primitive root; properly, to plait or interpenetrate, i.e. (literally) to weave or (gen.) to fabricate; figuratively, to plot or contrive (usually in a malicious sense); hence (from the mental effort) to think, regard, value, compute:
KJV-- (make) account (of), conceive, consider, count, cunning (man, work, workman), devise, esteem, find out, forecast, hold, imagine, impute, invent, be like, mean, purpose, reckon (-ing be made), regard, think.

7965 shalowm (shaw-lome'); or shalom (shaw-lome'); from 7999; safe, i.e. (figuratively) well, happy, friendly; also (abstractly) welfare, i.e. health, prosperity, peace:
KJV-- X do, familiar, X fare, favour, + friend, X great, (good) health, (X perfect, such as be at) peace (-able, -ably), prosper (-ity, -ous), rest, safe (-ty), salute, welfare, (X all is, be) well, X wholly.


Recognizing and realizing that God is in charge of every aspect of our lives
A) Prior to birth
Gal 1:15
But when He who had set me apart, {even} from my mother's womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased (NAS)
1) Paul was called by the Lord from the womb. The Lord changed his entire being on the road to Damascus.
2) Think about Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth. God had plans for and control over the births of their children. He even named them! See Gen 17:19, Luke 1:13 and Matthew 1:21.
B) Life giver
1) Gen 2:7 Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (NAS)
C) Death
1) II Ki 20:1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" (NAS)
2) Exod 31:14 'Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. (NAS)
3) Rom 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, (NAS)
4) Rom 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (NAS)

What happens when we try to do it ourselves?
A) Prov 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.(NIV)
B) Ps 33:10-11 The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart from generation to generation. (NAS)
C) Jer 10:21 For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the LORD; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered. (NAS)
D) Read through Proverbs regarding wisdom and counsel.

Turning our ears towards God to hear His will and His call
A) His view encompasses all.
1) Ps 33:13-15 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. (NAS)
B) His call to all believer's
1) John 21:19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow me!" (NAS)

Actively seeking to do His will
A) Use God's supplied help
1) Ps 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. (NAS)
2) John 16:13 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. (NAS)
B) Learning His ways
1) In prayer
i) James 1:5-6 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. (NAS)
ii) Eph 6:18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, (NAS)
iii) Acts 16:9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." (NAS)
2) Reading and studying His Word
i) Deut 11:18 "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. (NAS)
ii) 2 Tim 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth. (NAS)
iii) 2 Pet 3:2 that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior {spoken} by your apostles. (NAS)
iv) 2 Tim 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (NAS)
v) 1Thes 4:1 Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as you received from us {instruction} as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you may excel still more. (NAS)
vi) 1 Cor 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, (NAS)
3) Being with His children
i) Rom 12:5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
ii) Heb 10:25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging {one another} and all the more, as you see the day drawing near. (NAS)
iii) Eccl. 4:9-12 Two are better than one

Looking for opportunities provided by Him
A) Pray for opportunities
B) Pray for guidance
1) Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two?edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (NAS)
C) Pray for the courage to obey Him
1) Heb 3:7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you hear His voice, (NAS)
2) James 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; (NAS)
3) Luke 11:28 But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it."
D) Proceed in God's timing
1) Luke 14:28-31 "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand {men} to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (NAS)

Seek God's instruction and His will for the path to follow. Even if you are making a life-or-death decision, make sure you have asked God for guidance and waited for His answer showing you the way. Even if this means you may not attempt something in your timing, if you wait for God's timing there will be less back-tracking and greater success! Then when you have received His guidance and started down the pathway you feel He has directed you, continue to seek His Will!!!

Be in His will,
Dr. Larry

scribbled with crayon by dr. larry at 12:33 AM