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I have erroneously assumed that God created humankind to have man love, praise, and serve Him. But I can now see that is not true. The idea of Him creating something or someone that would bring Him love would infringe the fact that God is perfect and therefore would need nothing, including our devotion. John Piper writes that “the impulse to create the world was not from weakness, as though God were lacking in some perfection that creation could supply”. Johnathan Edwards wrote: “It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow.” God did not create man to get anything by doing so. How might that strike you? So why would a fully satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

It is illuminating when the Bible says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV). But can we take just a single verse and have a complete picture of all the truth the Bible teaches? Never! Looking deeper into the Bible, we find it also reads: Then God said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV). This reveals more about the Bible God. This verse means God is not a single being but exists in multiple parts. I found another Bible verse that adds clarity about God in Jesus’ words to His disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, ESV) Here we discover God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another verse that adds insight into God is in the Son’s (Jesus’) prayer to His Father. How might this relate to the question, why would a completely satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

Jesus, the Son, said “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy (John 17:13, NLT2). Who receives this joy? It is not God nor His Son. The Son is giving joy, not receiving it. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21, ESV).

Why, then, did God create you and me? When one loves deeply, he/she wants to give generously. God did not create us to GET joy, but to GIVE. What do we receive? We receive the unbelievable privilege of becoming one in love and unity with the triune Godhead. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have such mutual love, it is evident in how they think and live. It is like they dance as One. Try to imagine this. Christ has made it possible for you and me to become one with Them and dance with Them in their impeccable love, ecstasy, truth, righteousness, and all that makes Them divine. Let that fill your mind, emotions, and inner being!

We were created to satisfy our deepest thirst for life, love, and pleasure as we orbit our life around Him—NOT in trying to get others, or our circumstances, to orbit around what we think makes us feel good. When you and I glorify God by centering our entire life around Him; then each of us will step into the dance for which we were created.

Are you finding your greatest pleasure in dancing with God? If not, what have you been allowing to keep you from that ultimate pleasure? What attitude, habit, mindset might you need to adjust so you can enjoy dancing with the Godhead? Why not start to identify what adjustments need to be made today so you can live the best life possible for the rest of your earthly life?

We normally do not enjoy facing hardships, especially the tragic or very painful ones. Our initial response to them is to go out of our way to avoid them. They blur our fantasy of God being all-loving and kind.

 

I have erroneously assumed that God created humankind to have man love, praise, and serve Him. But I can now see that is not true. The idea of Him creating something or someone that would bring Him love would infringe the fact that God is perfect and therefore would need nothing, including our devotion. John Piper writes that “the impulse to create the world was not from weakness, as though God were lacking in some perfection that creation could supply”. Johnathan Edwards wrote: “It is no argument of the emptiness or deficiency of a fountain, that it is inclined to overflow.” God did not create man to get anything by doing so. How might that strike you? So why would a fully satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

It is illuminating when the Bible says, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV). But can we take just a single verse and have a complete picture of all the truth the Bible teaches? Never! Looking deeper into the Bible, we find it also reads: Then God said, “Let us (plural) make man in our (plural) image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26a, ESV). This reveals more about the Bible God. This verse means God is not a single being but exists in multiple parts. I found another Bible verse that adds clarity about God in Jesus’ words to His disciples. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19, ESV) Here we discover God exists in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Another verse that adds insight into God is in the Son’s (Jesus’) prayer to His Father. How might this relate to the question, why would a completely satisfied God create humankind who would bring Him so much pain?

Jesus, the Son, said “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy (John 17:13, NLT2). Who receives this joy? It is not God nor His Son. The Son is giving joy, not receiving it. Jesus prayed, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me (John 17:20-21, ESV).

Why, then, did God create you and me? When one loves deeply, he/she wants to give generously. God did not create us to GET joy, but to GIVE. What do we receive? We receive the unbelievable privilege of becoming one in love and unity with the triune Godhead. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have such mutual love, it is evident in how they think and live. It is like they dance as One. Try to imagine this. Christ has made it possible for you and me to become one with Them and dance with Them in their impeccable love, ecstasy, truth, righteousness, and all that makes Them divine. Let that fill your mind, emotions, and inner being!

We were created to satisfy our deepest thirst for life, love, and pleasure as we orbit our life around Him—NOT in trying to get others, or our circumstances, to orbit around what we think makes us feel good. When you and I glorify God by centering our entire life around Him; then each of us will step into the dance for which we were created.

Are you finding your greatest pleasure in dancing with God? If not, what have you been allowing to keep you from that ultimate pleasure? What attitude, habit, mindset might you need to adjust so you can enjoy dancing with the Godhead? Why not start to identify what adjustments need to be made today so you can live the best life possible for the rest of your earthly life?

While a quotation may be true, unless it is put in context, how it is repeated may come out being the exact opposite of the truth. This is often motivated by a newspaper wanting to sell newspapers or by someone on social media who intentionally or unintentionally repeats only what they wanted to hear. I’ve been falsely quoted in our local newspaper. It misrepresented me and what I said. Sadly, words are like fire that destroy and cannot be reversed, even though they may later be retracted—which rarely ever happens. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. James 3:5-6 (MSG)

When a highly sensitive incident occurred in our community, a reporter asked for my comments on it. Unfortunately for me, she took my comments totally out of context. It may have sold more newspapers but at my expense. The inaccuracy of what she wrote irreparably damaged my reputation and that of the church family I served. A false truth is compounded many times over because of the deeply sown suspicion of the truth. No one knows what to believe as truth.

This happens even when quoting words out of the Bible. A verse taken out of context with the rest of what the Bible teaches can seriously mislead others. An example of this can be noted in what Jesus taught.… Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. John 16:23b (ESV) Taken along with another passage like John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40  For the one who is not against us is for us. Mark 9:38-40 (ESV) If these verses are singled out, they lead one to think if they just verbalize the words ‘in Jesus’ name’, they can get whatever they selfishly want.

However, Jesus also puts those words in context when He said; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

Jesus’ promise that incredible things will happen if we use His name is absolutely true. But we can’t write checks in His name for things we selfishly want. Using His name implies living as an authentic apprentice of Jesus. This means seeking to learn and practice thinking about how He thinks and responds to His guidance as He responded to that of His Father. In the context of the rest of what the Bible says, this does NOT mean if we unintentionally make a wrong choice, it nullifies His promise. He is so generous in giving us His grace. It does mean earnestly endeavoring to live as He lived and humbly confessing our sin when we do slip.

How long have you gone in life without facing a speed bump? Not a literal one as in a school parking lot, but what felt like a crisis of any sort in your daily grind of life? These are the times when your plans are thwarted by struggles with your health, family, job, financial, life-changing decisions, or even your faith in God. Tension between good friends or unpredictable weather conditions can force you to change your plan, leaving you very annoyed. All speedbumps are not equally severe, but all disrupt life’s routine.

In spite of all the incredible miracles God did on behalf of the early Hebrews, speedbumps like shortage of water on occasion and boring manna (God provided food) seriously discouraged them. At times, they wanted to get rid of Moses (their leader) and go back to slavery in Egypt. Of course, we see that as an insane option, but sometimes speedbumps can look and feel so daunting, they seriously twist our minds and emotions. The first time the Hebrews arrived at the Promised Land, they acknowledged it was their dreamland, but they also saw the speedbumps. Intimidating giants occupied their Promised Land! They must have been fantasizing they could just waltz into vacant cities with ready built homes. All they expected to do was to walk in and set up housekeeping and live happily ever after. But that is not God’s way of loving us. He intended for them to have to fight for this gift so He could give us even more. They would not have to fight with their own strength alone. He would join them and use His power and wisdom to bring down the walls of cities, give them strategies to defeat their enemies, and empower their warriors to fight. The people would definitely have a divine advantage over anyone they fought, but they would still have to fight.

This is one of God’s wondrous ways. He doesn’t want to just give us a magnificent gift. He wants to position us so He can continue to give us more of Himself, His love and power. How does He do this? He does by allowing us to repeatedly encounter speedbumps that will force us to humbly acknowledge our need and go to Him for help! Without question, salvation is clearly a gift we cannot earn! However, the Bible also tells us to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12) and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). It is in and through the fighting and the working out of our salvation that we are shaped into His very likeness. Discovering more of just how great and loving God is literally transforms the way we think and what we believe. His objective for you and me is NOT to give us money, good relationships or to have fun. His express goal for us on this earth is for us to keep growing until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4:13, NLT2). Imagine that! All the gold, popularity, power or whatever else looks so appealing, fades away when compared to being made into the full and complete standard of Christ!

So, when do you want God to stop allowing you to endure speedbumps? Paul explains that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them (Romans 8:28, NLT2). You and I will never know this dimension of His grace if we don’t encounter those pesky speedbumps. The most daunting speed bump Jesus endured physically was the abuse of the cross and, spiritually, separation from His Father. How did He do it? The same way you and I can endure our speedbumps. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2b, GW).

I am captivated by how Hezekiah, a highly revered Old Testament king of Judah, was so much like us today. Apparently, He made a presumptuous decision that later brought him to a crisis point. You can only appreciate the resemblance by knowing his backstory.

Hezekiah’s father, king Ahaz, claimed to worship God but was a horrendous model of a follower of God. Hezekiah became a co-ruler then sole ruler at 25 years of age (2 Chronicles 29:1). Perhaps because of a godly mother, one of the first acts of his reign was to open the doors of the Temple of God and lead the people into a spiritual revival. The Bible reads Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his time. 2 Kings 18:5 (NLT2) That would have included David and Solomon!

When things were going so well, he made a costly decision. His father had agreed to pay taxes to the Assyrian empire when it was at its zenith. However, that empire was fracturing by the time Sennacherib became its king. Hezekiah then decided to join in the rebellion of other nations (such as Egypt and Babylon) and stop paying the tribute his father had agreed to pay. When Sennacherib’s army began to crush scores of the rebellious cities, King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria when he was laying siege to Lachish: “I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only withdraw.” 2 Kings 18:14a (NLT2) If he would have consulted God before deciding to rebel, do you think he would have felt the need to make such a humble confession? It is easy looking back in history to criticize Hezekiah for not trusting God to deliver him.

However, if God had told Hezekiah to rebel, Hezekiah most likely would have told Sennacherib he was coming against God, so prepare to be defeated. But he didn’t. Nor is there any hint that he had consulted God before making this humble confession. Could it be that Hezekiah realized he had neglected asking God before stepping out in rebellion? If so, this humble confession was a reflection of his righteous character, not lack of faith?

When God chooses to bless our humble love and worship, it is extremely easy to become so caught up in the moment we neglect to continue to be the same humble, God-fearing person that allowed God to bless us in the first place. Instead, we presumptuously make critical decisions without consulting Him that later humbles us. I’m sure I have done that and I’ve watched others pridefully fall into the very same trap. Some people begin to overspend money, abuse their power by lording it over others, or try to use man’s methods to improve on the talents they have assumed to be their own.

In Hezekiah’s case, God saw his freshly humbled heart and miraculously intervened. We remember this incredible intervention story, not the broken humility involved due to his presumptuous decision. Our broken and contrite heart is what arouses God to show Himself strong on our behalf. Are you being careful to not take God’s blessings for granted and remain totally dependent upon His mercy and grace? Or, has your pride been keeping you in the unwise decision mode which goes from bad to worse? Are you feeling grateful for living dependent on Him or feeling a ping in your inner person that, like Hezekiah, you also have become too presumptive and need to humbly repent to God and man and receive God’s forgiving grace?

I recently read an excellent devotional by Nicky Gumbel who has worked with the Alpha program. He pointed out there has been a shift in our culture so that the battle today is not as much about God as it is about Jesus. He reported many will say that they believe in God and are even open to the idea of the Holy Spirit. But increasingly, Jesus has become the stumbling-block. They say things like, ‘I don’t get the Jesus bit.’ It is not logical to them. It reminded me of how Satan put such a subtle spin on God’s love and commands that Adam and Eve doubted God was truly good. This led them to reject His Word and authority. This deceptive tool has continued to mislead humanity through the millenniums. Why? Because far too often it works.

I received a response from a misled man who read one of my blogs. He saw God as autocratic and cruel by demanding suffering from humans (including Jesus). In my lifetime, I have seen how the atrocities of sin against God’s laws for living the best life possible have dramatically shifted. So many, including many church goers, sin is now synonymous with a mistake or not the best choice. It is not reasonable to them that God’s Word would define sin being so bad it requires the death penalty. This redefinition has deluded thousands! The Bible clearly teaches, the person who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:20 (NLT2) For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT2) Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22 (LEB)

Jesus, God’s Son, was born as a human so humanity could identify with God. Satan has nefariously taken this identification factor and spun it around so that today young people so identify with the humanity of Jesus that they totally miss His deity. By redefining sin to be nothing more than a casual bad choice of the moment, a spiritually blinded person does not get the fact Jesus had to die on the cross for their sin! This is clear in how few experience godly sorrow which alone can result in changing the direction of their life. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Corinthians 7:10 (NLT2)

Sad to say, I suspect this delusion is due to neglecting to stress, in churches or small groups, how terrible sin really is. This subtle failure will lead hundreds to reject God’s authority over them as Adam and Eve did.

Our failure to stress the severity of sin has caught up with us and now people are paying the terrible consequences of our neglect.

This is NOT to suggest that those who share Christ should stress doom and gloom, in contrast to joy in serving Christ! Truth MUST be balanced with the love as well as fear of God. It is the joy of the Lord that is your strength! (Nehemiah 8:10) It is essential to live His joy out in our daily lives. Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Philippians 4:4 (NLT2) In the midst of that, the lack of healthy, reverential fear of God’s righteousness and justice will gradually drain away that same joy of our Lord because, sin separates us from God. (Isaiah 59:2) It happened to King David in the Bible and can happen to any of us today.

 

It felt like a wave of disorientation crashed down upon me. I had established a workable routine. Then, unexpectedly, multiple personal aspirations simultaneously raced towards me as must-deal-with-now issues. My schedule, monthly priorities, and workable routine were overwhelmed, then seemed to vaporize. I felt like I was being buried alive, trying to stop my car after being broadsided by a 150-mph gust of wind, or losing my mind! Yikes!! When did that last happen in your life?

Gratefully, my mind and emotions slowly re-stabilized! In its wake were challenging pending pressures, but when they merged, they slowed to a more manageable pace. So much for the value of prioritizing—or is it? Can we live fruitful lives without having core value priorities? When a person has strong core values, those priorities serve in an analogous way as instincts serve a falling cat that ends up on his feet.

Priorities reveal the true character and core values of a person. They speak far louder than words or deeds. If our daily choices, which are products of our priorities, revolve around our desire for pleasure (just to have fun), things (possessions), or pride (need to be number one and control others), James 4:1-10 explains our priorities are self-centered. This will lead us to experience conflict wherever we go. On the other hand, if our daily choices revolve around seeking to live under God’s authority and allow Him to control every part of our daily life, we will experience closeness to God. Let the peace of Christ rule [be umpire] in your heart (Col. 3:15).

To be clear; while most people live totally for themselves, few live totally under God’s authority. A Christian’s spiritual journey consists of progressive shifting from being mostly self-centered to living mostly under God’s authority. The more we depend on the Holy Spirit’s leading and empowerment, the faster we are transformed into spiritual maturity. When we pause and look back over the last 6 months or year, we can see how we have matured or become more like Jesus. We can get a decent glimpse of my progress after having endured stressful crashing waves of mental and emotional disorientation. If I am still pressing hard at becoming spiritually mature or being like Jesus, I can rejoice in the God of my salvation. If not, I must be a person of integrity and seriously seek His guidance on what life adjustments will position me to better ‘land on my feet’ when encountering my next trial.

I recommend you proactively consider this. If a court investigator examined your daily choices over the last 3 months, what verdict do you suspect he might determine are your working life priorities? Do you believe they would represent what you want them to be, or do you have a sense of what you need to do to better prepare yourself before that next wave hits you? If you have become aware of something that needs to change, GREAT because that revelation from God indicates He is ready and willing to guide and empower you to make those changes. Considering these thoughts again makes me pause once more to think about the choices I will be making regarding how I use my time, how deeply I value experiencing God’s presence, and how clearly my choices in life reflect Jesus to those around me.

I feel irritated when a store advertises a significant discount to entice you to come into the store. When you arrive, the salesclerk says the product is either out of stock or there are other stipulations that must be met before the discount will be applied. This sales technique is often called false advertising or bait and switch. The taste it leaves in my mouth is not desirable. I do not want to do business with them because I cannot trust anything they may do.

I highly suspect some pray to receive God’s wonderful free gift of grace consisting of eternal life. However, after they have been coming to church for a time, they are virtually given a list of things they must do in order to live a Christian lifestyle. Consequently, they begin trying to live up to those qualifications. Over time they become weary of trying because when they take one step forward, they end up falling back one or even two steps. Eventually, they come to believe it is impossible to live as they were told and succumb to talking the acceptable talk but not walking the walk as they have seen so many others do.

The problem is two-fold. In the first place, trying harder to be a Christ-follower feeds our sin nature. We soon learn nothing is free in life. You only get what you pay for. And working for something makes a person at least feel like they are earning a good relationship with God. Second, few in the church world ever grasp the truth that salvation or heaven is NOT about earning anything, nor is it about feeling obligated to do so in order to get to the good place after you die. The problem with this self-discipline or willpower Christianity is that it puts you back into the center of the equation. If you are able to succeed in checking off a few things on the list of accomplishments that qualify you to receive God’s extraordinary gifts, you pat yourself on the back. You become proud of these accomplishments which lead you to look down on those who continue to fail in their efforts to be holy. Furthermore, if you slip up on what you thought you had accomplished, you berate yourself. When that happens, you are prone to put on a mask of righteousness and go deeper into living a hypocritical life. No wonder so many in the church wear masks!

Biblical reality on God’s grace is this. Grace can only be received, it can never be earned, no matter how much effort is put into it. Beating yourself with the proverbial whip to try to make the flesh be holy can NOT help you. It only hurts you. Grace is given when a person acknowledges their utter helplessness and humbly asks the Spirit to flow His life through them. Like a fruit tree, the fruit of righteousness naturally grows. Paul refers to it in Galatians 5:22-23. It is possible to manipulate or otherwise coerce a person into right behavior or right doctrine. However, unless the heart humbly recognizes its desperate need of God’s powerful grace from salvation to physical death, no authentically righteous fruit can grow out of it.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT2)  So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. Romans 9:16 (NLT2) You will recognize them (authentic Christ-follower/prophets) by their fruits: they do not gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? Matthew 7:16 LEB

Are you a person who others might say you have ice in your veins? What might that statement mean? Could it mean you do not deeply care for someone, or could it mean you are emotionally detached from your environment, including those around you? I know individuals who seem to thrive on drama or some sort of crisis. They get in such a frenzy it works others around them to go into a crisis mode. If life around them is too smooth, they dramatize a small thing to the point they make it sound like a crisis. I also know individuals who rarely get emotionally charged. To be sure, I much prefer having a medical person, like a doctor, to have a benevolent emotional detachment with my predicament when they must do surgery on me.

As I write this, Russia has invaded Ukraine. No doubt about it, it is a very painful crisis, especially for the Ukrainians. It has the attention of a substantial portion of our world. Russia has occupied the largest atomic energy plant in the world. I understand it provides electricity to a large part of Europe. For that reason, there is talk that Putin is planting bombs around it to use its potential destruction to blackmail the European nations. That is extremely serious! So how are we to respond in such a case? Do we get all emotional and attempt to carry the weight of the world in the palm of our hand? Or do we take a more benevolent detachment approach by looking at the bigger picture?

Humans are not designed to carry the weight of the world in the palm of their hands. Jesus said, that is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? So, don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:25-34 (NLT2) Jesus said this in the context of worrying about financial provisions but the foundational truth behind it is far broader than our worries about money! Paul wrote, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6 (NIV).

At first, this approach sounds like a cop-out. We cannot just crawl in a hole. It does not seem right to pretend like nothing is happening on the other side of the world or even on the other side of our state. What do we do? Jesus was not paralyzed by the pain of everyone around Him, even though He saw the pain firsthand. He went on doing all His Father had called Him to do and speak. Was He criticized in doing so? Yes, but He responded by essentially saying, “This too is in My Father’s hands.”

Father, teach us to show your love to those around us. But help us to not take upon ourselves more than just the work you have called and entrusted us to do.

Having retired from occupational ministry, looking back, I have so much for which I am extremely grateful to God. Despite my resistance in each stage of my ministry, God was patient with that resistance and remained with me while I finally surrendered my desire to His desire for my life. What He did through me, despite my foolishness, has been almost unbelievable. I feel dumbfounded and yet so privileged that at each stage, He exerted His faith, wisdom, power and truth through me in such a way His kingdom marched forward while I tried to fulfill my assigned position. There is no question in my mind that I did not accomplish what happened by my own strength. I was only a pawn in the hands of God. What a blessing it was to have been a small part of what He purposed to do. I suspect Jesus’ disciples experienced similar feelings as they passed out the loaves and fishes or participated in other God orchestrated deeds.

Nevertheless, I do have a few regrets. There were times I engaged in a few ministry activities I thought Christ would want me to do, but He did not necessarily instruct me to do. There is a fine line between doing what we think He would want us to do and doing what He prompts us to do. When we do what we think God wants us to do, when He has not told us to do it, we use our own strength to accomplish it, which puts our body, mind and emotions under unnecessary stress. When that happened, we presumptuously blame our stress on our ministry or serving.

We are not sure what prompted Judas to betray Jesus. His subsequent suicide may offer a clue as to why he had made that serious mistake that he interpreted to be irreversible. Judas would have been aware Mary had manipulated circumstances that would compel Jesus into turning water into wine. This is what launched Him into ministry. Despite the fact Jesus had repeatedly taught otherwise, all the disciples had the belief Jesus would set up an earthly kingdom. (Acts 1:6) So could it have been Judas thought he too needed to do something similar to what Mary had done and manipulate circumstances so Jesus would be pushed into taking His ministry to the next stage of ruling as King on this earth?

For reasons we can only speculate on, 1 Samuel 15 records how King Saul altered God’s command through Samuel to utterly destroy all the Amalekites had. For some reason, Saul got the idea of offering a praise sacrifice to God was what He wanted him to do. Therefore, Saul saved the best of sheep and oxen to offer as this great sacrifice to God. That is not all that much different from what Judas did. Saul, too, paid dearly for that presumptive act of disobedience. It is still a mystery to me why some who act presumptuously receive greater negative consequences than others who only put unnecessary stress on themselves. But that is part of God’s ways we will not understand until we enter Heaven.

As you consider your life, could it be you may have presumptively acted on what you only imagined God might want you to do? Such a presumption may amount to taking a mission trip, contributing money, protecting someone, or feeling guilty about something without God’s prompting. Your presumptive act may have hindered God from using the related pain to teach or train someone a critical life lesson?

Only by more diligently maintaining a close relationship with Christ can we avoid this mistake. When we are close to Him daily, we can more easily discern His desires for us and avoid the regrets of following our own way.