Set The Table

Have you ever been in a situation that you just needed to know what you were going to do?  Maybe it was a job or maybe it was a predicament you were facing and you were constantly searching for advice and guidance. You would look to anyone as long as they gave you an answer. I figured out  that when the older heads wouldn't direct me in an outright manner, I was up the creek without a paddle.  It wasn't that they didn't know the answer or that they weren't wise enough, they were simply provoking thought in that pea-brain of mine. My priorities and my devotions will guide me in my decision making.

It's a constant fight, on a daily basis, to remember that Jesus can and will sustain me (1 Cor. 1:4-8).  Maybe it was previous situations, when I was "of the world", that brought me into such hardships.  I'm just not sure where I got this overwhelming need try to be and seem to feel self-sustaining. In Proverbs 3:7 (ESV), "Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the LORD, and turn away from evil." This is how much God wants me to rely on myself.   The song, "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" is a great reminder of Colossians 3:17 (ESV) "And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  Clearly you can't make wrong decisions in the name of the Lord, that's not what being in submission to your Lord and Master entails.

Remember those bracelets that had "W.W.J.D." inscribed on them?   I used to feel that it really doesn't matter what Jesus WOULD do, it's all about what Jesus DID do. Now if we know what Jesus DID do, can't we know what Jesus WOULD do? Sometimes you just have to eat your words.

So you were forced to make a decision and you inadvertently made the wrong one, now what? Problems seem so magnified in the middle of what feels like a major crisis. David reminds us in Psalms 31:3-4 (ESV)  For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me;  (4)  you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.

It doesn't take a neurosurgeon to know that life comes at all of us at lightning speeds, but David says that when we have been overwhelmed with the net of the world, God will be our refuge.  That might not make the decision you made anymore right, but just like my G.P.S. always tells me, "re-calculating."  Yes, you will have to deal with the consequences of that decision.  Nobody can do that for you or remind you not to make that same mistake tomorrow.

What will help you become the kind of Christian who is able to competently make those decisions is when you do what Acts 2:41-42 (ESV) says, "So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.  (42)  And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

I pray that God continues to help us receive His Word as well as devote ourselves to those divine blue-prints the Holy Spirit left us through the apostles. Then decisions won't really be decisions, it will be a lifestyle and W.W.J.D. will be the same as W.W.(whatever your first initial is here).D..

Pull Up A Chair

How often are you faced with making tough decisions? Is there something that helps you make a decision or do you just flippantly make one? Maybe you ignore the situation totally, hoping that it will just go away.  With all the decisions that cross our paths, the choice to read this blog might just be a great decision. 

Have you ever sat down at the table, maybe at Thanksgiving or something of the like, and there were so many choices you just couldn't decide what to strategically put on your plate? Maybe you have no strategy and you put a little of everything and really weigh your plate down, not to mention expand you waste-line. Or maybe you are really picky and only put certain things on your plate.  What moves you to choose those particular foods? The information highway has become this enormous thoroughfare with so much to process.  How can we choose who and what to listen to or can we possibly absorb it all? 

I'll be the first to tell you that absorbing it all is just not an option for me. So the question must come up, "Why would I read this guy's blog if he's only taking in a limited supply of knowledge?"  That's what I've been posing to myself lately. Since I'm not some genius or extraordinary mind. the conclusion that I have come to is that I don't have all the answers, I don't even have half of the answers. What may make this a significant read is that this blog, maybe, just maybe will help you face some of your own questions and challenges. 

Just like an all-you-can-eat buffet, you are going to have to do a little work. If you aren't willing to put the food on your plate, you will more than likely starve to death, at least from this blog.  Now I am asking you to pull up a chair and stay for a while, you might not become a millionaire overnight, but you could grow spiritually in ways you never imagined.  Thank you for taking the time to read this. My aim is to make it worth your while and most of all glorify God. 

1Chronicles 28:20 ESV  Then David said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous and do it. Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed, for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not leave you or forsake you, until all the work for the service of the house of the LORD is finished.