"Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem." (Acts 21:12)
Paul would have none of it. And, as with Paul, attempts to nullify the will of Jesus in our lives can come from many quarters. There is good advice, counsel and then there is that which is just looking for "the path of least resistance," which Brother Charles Simpson once said, "makes both men and rivers crooked." Our Lord Jesus had the same "pleadings" to not go here or there because of death threats. The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus from early on, but Jesus, "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem"; nothing could stop that. As my Dad once said, "The Cross was in the Heart of God from eternity." It was a "determined" event.
I have said many times that the will and purposes of God "operate" in our lives something like a river with currents, backwashes, eddies. Do not fall victim to the notion that every movement, every decision, every event in our lives is "determined," viz., we have nothing to do with anything. This is popularized in the awful cliche, "Well, God makes no mistakes." It sounds so pious, and may seem to give "all glory to God," but the only thing such a philosophy/theology ultimately does is to attribute to God both the good and "bad." It is like saying, "Well, I broke the law, but God makes no mistakes." Yet regardless of the currents, backwashes, and eddies in which you and I have flowed in our life's journey, I believe the "banks on the river" are still in the Hands of Jesus Christ. I made mistakes; you made mistakes, and we are probably not finished with mistakes. Admit them; repent of them and walk in that spirit of repentance and pray, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven," because both will, "be done." The frightening variable is, Will we miss them or be in them.
There is and has been danger in the world from Abel and Cain on. The moment, however, you and I give in to fear is the "moment" we will make some big mistakes. I have no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ laid out a "plan" for our lives, as Jesus says in a parable, "prepared for you from the foundation of the world." We disrupted that, "prepared for you," probably many times. How about, No more!
Father, in Jesus' Name, Holy Spirit, convict me when I take my course instead of Yours." Amen.
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Paul would have none of it. And, as with Paul, attempts to nullify the will of Jesus in our lives can come from many quarters. There is good advice, counsel and then there is that which is just looking for "the path of least resistance," which Brother Charles Simpson once said, "makes both men and rivers crooked." Our Lord Jesus had the same "pleadings" to not go here or there because of death threats. The Jews were seeking to kill Jesus from early on, but Jesus, "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem"; nothing could stop that. As my Dad once said, "The Cross was in the Heart of God from eternity." It was a "determined" event.
I have said many times that the will and purposes of God "operate" in our lives something like a river with currents, backwashes, eddies. Do not fall victim to the notion that every movement, every decision, every event in our lives is "determined," viz., we have nothing to do with anything. This is popularized in the awful cliche, "Well, God makes no mistakes." It sounds so pious, and may seem to give "all glory to God," but the only thing such a philosophy/theology ultimately does is to attribute to God both the good and "bad." It is like saying, "Well, I broke the law, but God makes no mistakes." Yet regardless of the currents, backwashes, and eddies in which you and I have flowed in our life's journey, I believe the "banks on the river" are still in the Hands of Jesus Christ. I made mistakes; you made mistakes, and we are probably not finished with mistakes. Admit them; repent of them and walk in that spirit of repentance and pray, "Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven," because both will, "be done." The frightening variable is, Will we miss them or be in them.
There is and has been danger in the world from Abel and Cain on. The moment, however, you and I give in to fear is the "moment" we will make some big mistakes. I have no doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ laid out a "plan" for our lives, as Jesus says in a parable, "prepared for you from the foundation of the world." We disrupted that, "prepared for you," probably many times. How about, No more!
Father, in Jesus' Name, Holy Spirit, convict me when I take my course instead of Yours." Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
