Avoiding Detours

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. - Proverbs 3:5-6.

I turned off the interstate to get gas for my car. I was returning from a speaking engagement and it was very late. As I turned onto the road, I looked for the entrance ramp to get back on the interstate. It was dark and I could not see any signs. I made a turn to the right that appeared to be the turn I needed to make. I could see the interstate was next to the road. As I continued down this road, the interstate was on my left. It soon became obvious it was not the entrance road but rather a frontage road. I assumed it would take me to the next interchange. However, the road soon turned away from the interstate. It grew darker and darker. The road became a dirt road. I realized I was not going to get to the interstate on this road. Being a bit frustrated that I had made the wrong turn, I turned around and went back, losing valuable time.

It is easy to make assumptions about the path we are on. If God's Spirit has not enlightened our reasoning, we are inclined to make the wrong choices. Our choices seem right at the time, but later we discover these choices have led us away from God because they were based on our own reasoning.

Acknowledge God in all your ways today. Lean completely on Him to reveal His direction for your life. If you do so, He will direct you to the desired destination He has for you.

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za

The Isolation Chamber

Be still and know that I am God.... - Psalm 46:10.

There is a time and place in our walk with God in which He sets us in a place of waiting. It is a place in which all past experiences are of no value. It is a time of such stillness that it can disturb the most faithful if we do not understand that He is the one who has brought us to this place for only a season. It is as if God has placed a wall around us. No new opportunities--simply inactivity.

During these times, God is calling us aside to fashion something new in us. It is an isolation chamber designed to call us to deeper roots of prayer and faith. It is not a comfortable place, especially for a task-driven workplace believer. Our nature cries out, "You must do something," while God is saying, "Be still and know that I am God." You know the signs that you have been brought into this chamber when He has removed many things from your life and you can't seem to change anything. Perhaps you are unemployed. Perhaps you are laid up with an illness.

Most religious people live a very planned and orchestrated life where they know almost everything that will happen. But for people in whom God is performing a deeper work, He brings them into a time of quietness that seems almost eerie. They cannot say what God is doing. They just know that He is doing a work that cannot be explained to themselves or to others.

Has God brought you to a place of being still? Be still and know that He really is God. When this happens, the chamber will open soon after.

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za

How and Where God Speaks

The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and He said to me, "Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you." - Ezekiel 3:22

God speaks in many different ways to His children. He spoke through a bush to Moses. He spoke through a donkey to Balaam. He spoke through prophets to His kings. He speaks through other believers. He speaks directly to us through the invisible Holy Spirit. And He speaks even through circumstances.

When God wants to speak a very important word directly to us without interruption from the noise of our busy lives, he will take us "into the plain." The plain is a place of no distractions and no other persons. It is a place of silence. It can be a place of great need as it often fails to have the normal provisions we are accustomed to. It can be a place we go to voluntarily to seek His face, or we can be moved there without choice by His supernatural ability. More often, it is the latter method that brings us into the plain. In modern times, it often means a separation from our normal activities such as jobs or families.

The plain can also be a place where we discover afresh that God's hand has been on us all the time. When we are so busy with life, we sometimes forget that God's hand is still there, gently leading our path. When our lives get so busy that we are not listening or responding to His gentle touch, He must take more aggressive measures to get our attention. Thus, the plain is one of those appointed times of one-on-one communication with our heavenly Father. No distractions, no people, no beautiful surroundings to capture our thoughts. It is a barren place designed to allow us to seek and hear clearly. When He speaks, we need to be able to listen. We hear much better in the plain.

Do you need to hear God's voice today? Is your life such that you cannot even hear His voice? Each day God calls us to our own mini-plain in order to speak to us and for us to hear. If we neglect this time of open communication, we may be invited to His plain in order to hear without distraction. Pray that you might make time to hear.

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za

Going Without Jesus

...they were unaware of it. - Luke 2:43

Mary and Joseph traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. Jesus was 12 years old. They were evidently very distracted by the excitement and business of the Feast. In fact, Mary and Joseph began their return trip to Nazareth only to realize well into the trip that Jesus was not with them. It would be three days before they would be reunited with their 12-year-old son. It caused quite a scare in Mary and Joseph, and they reprimanded Jesus for "wandering" off.

As a parent, I find this story truly amazing. How can parents of the Son of God not know their son is not in their presence? Yet this story illustrates how each of us can become so busy that we continue to operate not realizing that Jesus is no longer with us. Obviously, there was very little fellowship taking place between Jesus and His parents during the trip.

Are you experiencing daily, even moment-by-moment, fellowship with Jesus? If not, you will wake up one day and realize Jesus is not with you in your endeavors. It may, like Mary and Joseph, create a certain fear in you that you may have lost a very important relationship. Doing business without Jesus' presence leaves us powerless and prone to live in fear. Jesus said He would never leave or forsake His children. However, we can walk away from His fellowship by refusing to be with Him. Do not let this happen to you. He longs to have daily fellowship with you because He loves you.

Source: John Hall, www.pleasantplaces.co.za

TWENTY TRUTHS TO REMEMBER

1. Faith is the ability not to panic.

2. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry.

3. As a child of God, prayer is like calling home every day.

4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.

6. Do the maths, count your blessings.

7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.

8. Dear God: I have a problem. It's me.

9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.

10. Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging.

11. The most important things in your home are the people.

12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.

13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.

14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.

16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, so enjoy your precious moments.

17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, otherwise it's just hearsay.

18. Its all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. Just be sure to flush when you are done.

19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage. The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and risk-taking. Learn from the turtle -- it only makes progress when it sticks out its neck.

Long handled spoons

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, "Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like."

The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.' They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons strapped to their arms, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, 'I don't understand.' It is simple' said the Lord, 'it requires but one skill. You see, they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'

Beauty and the beast

In the small German city of Walroder a preacher gave an altar call. An angry looking woman promptly got up and stormed out of the church. The preacher stopped and silently prayed that she would be back.

The next night she was in church again and in the back row, but not a happy camper. As the sermon drew to a close and the altar call was given, people stood to come forward. Suddenly she stood up and came rushing to the front of the church. When several people in the church saw her they broke out into emotional crying.

The young woman had mascara all over her face from crying. She repented of her sins and received the Lord in her life. Many people were greatly moved by the power of God that evening. God worked deep things into that woman's heart.

Months later in another meeting, a British soldier came into the Walroder church. Now he was angry one. His anger related to the conversion of the young blonde woman earlier. That event had changed her life and she had decided not to sleep with him anymore. The preacher had become the target of his resentment.

At the end of the sermon, an altar call was again given. The soldier misunderstood the question. Instead of, "If you don't know the Lord and would like him in your life please stand up", He heard "If you don't want to know the Lord please stand up".

Some people stood up and so did he, but with his head hanging down. The preached said, "Please come forward." They came forward and he was not far behind them. His intentions for coming forward were not to receive the Lord. He came forward to destroy the church meeting and to confront the preacher.

When he reached the front of the church something happened to him. the congregation started singing and God's glory filled the place. The soldier began to shake all over, tears began to run down his face and blood flowed from his nose.

The soldier then prayed and asked the Lord into his life. He was marvelously saved. God in His love and mercy touched the angry soldier and the man repented of his sins. He became very excited about the reality and the love of God.

After the meeting he told his unbelievable story. He had been trained to be one of the best boxers in the British army. He was great in his field and knew it. During his training he had learnt how to control his emotions so on the night of his conversion he had every mind to disrupt the meeting and have his say. When he began to shake he tried to use the method he had so well learnt. But what had always worked before, simply failed him.

He tried to control his emotions by counting backwards from 10 and that didn't work. This was a fight that he was losing and he knew it. It was the first time he had ever experienced the power and love of God. Salvation had come to him and his life was marvelously saved.

One day later he brought a gift. It was a trophy which he had won in one of his boxing fights. He surrendered it saying, "I lost the fight in church that night." He may have lost the fight, but he got something that will last forever and that is life with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The love of God is much more that we will ever fully understand and one thing that is for sure, His love is love.

Matt 9:37

Source: Sam Fields