Monday, March 23, 2009

God's Will...What is that?

You know, when we make bad choices and then bad situations or circumstances come our way? Why then do we attribute that to being God's will. That hits home with all Christians. I guess it was God's will that the person decided to drink and eventually die from cirhosis of the live, right? NO. God gives us choices and guess what...we have to live with our choices. Isaiah 29:15-16 tells us about the people of Judah trying to "hide" their plans and goals from God. They tried to twist God into being the clay instead of the potter. Theres a big problem with that. It's impossible to do. God is going to accomplish His will regardless if we are a part of it or not. Now have you and I ever tried to make God the clay? Sure we have probably on daily basis! Just like the people of Judah, God is looking for our true worship and obedience (Isaiah 29:13-14). The people were just going through the motions and using empty words while so-called "worshiping" God. How many times hav you and I were trying to focus on worship to God and we were concerned about something else. Look at the bright side. Scoot on down to Isaiah 30:15, then vs 18. God wants true repentance and obedience from us and then He will bless and protect us. What a great God we have! He loves and why would we not want to follow His will and obey Him?

David Stapp

Friday, March 13, 2009

What do we do stuff for?

Have you ever thought why you do certain things? Like read books. We read for different reasons. Maybe we read for more knowledge, or to pass time, or even for fun. What about eating? We eat to get energy. So with that said we do things for various reasons. Is there an ultimate reason why we do the everyday activities? Well I was reading 1 Corinthians 10:31 and it says "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Do we always do this? No, I don't always do this. Sometimes I think I am bringing glory to God when in reality I am being disopbedient. So my focus is to stay in His word and ask for the wisdom to discern the "everyday activities" that bring Him glory. Last but not least...Let us have an ATTITUDE that shows God we love Him with all of our hearts!!!!

I love our Lord Jesus!
David Stapp

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Meeting God's Expectations


What are God's expectations for us? How do we meet them? In Isaiah 5:1-2, it tells us that God (vineyard owner) had done everything possible to reap a harvest. He chose very fertile ground that would surely bring results. Then He cultivated it removing all rocks and debris. Last He made a watchtower there so He could overlook and care for the vineyard (His people). God also prepared a winepress in "expectations" that the vines would bear good fruit. GUESS WHAT? They did the opposite. The produced bad or worthless fruit. This was an analogy of disobedience. Seems to be the same in our lives as well. Vs 4 God asks "What more could I have done than I already have." The same questions can be directed to us also. God has prepared us to do His will, and that is to bear good fruit for His glory. He has given us everything we needed to succeed in bearing fruit. So what is our excuse? Read 8-14 for the consequences of disobedience. Now what can we do to fully put meeting God's expectations on the top of our list?

In Christ
David Stapp