We've been passed over, but it's a good thing!

I have heard people say again and again, 'God's timing is perfect' and I have always agreed to it without much thought. This Palm Sunday it really hit me just how perfect His timing really is.

A while back I had an opportunity to participate in Beth Moore's study of Esther. This is a wonderful study which I highly recommend. In the Bible, Esther (who is Jewish) becomes queen and finds out that the King and an enemy named Haman, have established a new law that will annihilate all of the Jews. In the study Beth Moore points out the timing of the decree that goes out to all of the provinces in this kingdom. She states that the decree to kill all of the Jews goes out on Passover (Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman, p. 73). So, here we see that God's timing is perfect because through His timing He is saying this law has been passed, but the total destruction intended by the law will not be carried out. The total destruction of the Jews will be 'passed over.'

So, this Sunday I was thinking about Jesus being crucified during the Jewish celebration of Passover (see Matthew 26-27). As you recall, the celebration of Passover was because the Jewish people put lamb's blood on the door posts of their houses so that the death angel would pass over their home and not take their first born sons (see Exodus 12) during the plagues of Egypt. So, the first Passover means that the Jewish people were exempt from God's wrath and punishment. Now consider that Jesus was crucified during Passover. This means through our belief in Jesus as God's son, God was providing a way for all of us to escape His wrath. Our punishment can be 'passed over' if we believe in Jesus' sacrifice (and that He died for our sins), and God was emphasizing His willingness to 'pass over' our punishment by Jesus' death on the cross during the festival of Passover. Hallelujah! Our God is a complex and amazing God, and His timing is indeed perfect.

Special thanks to Angie, Chris, and Hazel for helping me clarify this point.

So good I had to share!

I was reading 'The Word for you Today' for April 12th and thought this devotion was so good I wanted to share part of it with you. The verse was Romans 12:2.

"As you agree with God, believing what He says is true, change automatically happens. You start to think differently, talk differently, and act differently. Be patient with yourself; it's a process that develops in stages. Would you think there was something wrong with your child because they couldn't walk perfectly on the first few tries? No, you're delighted each time they take a step. When they fall you pick them up. When they mess up you clean them up and encourage them to try again. You never stop working with them! And God does the same with us. He's not angry because you haven't 'arrived,' He's pleased that you're pressing on, endeavoring to stay on the path." (The Word For You Today, April 12th, p. 26)

Sometimes I become frustrated with myself because I try to make, or add, godly changes to my life and I can do those things for a while, but I usually end up struggling to continue those changes. Then, I find myself feeling fearful that He is going to give up on me and that lie makes me give up on Him. I give up on Him, thinking, ‘oh well, since I am no longer of any use, or value to Him I guess I can quit trying.' I could not be more wrong. He has NOT given up on us and He WON’T give up on us because He cannot! (2 Timothy 2:13) It is in His nature to continue seeking us out.

Don’t Give up or Give in!

Thoughts & Desires

1 John 5:21 ‘Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.’

It can be difficult to identify when we are engaging in idolatry. Whenever we are consumed with thoughts of something else, or someone else, we have participated in idolatry. It is not necessarily the act of bowing down to some kind of object. That is just the behavior that follows the thought. We can bow down mentally to anything and most people would never know we are worshipping something other than God. More often than not, we don’t realize when we are worshipping something other than God. This sin is subtle and can be anything on which we spend our time, energy, or thoughts.

The notes in my Bible say, ‘that idolatry is making anything more important than God' (Life Application Bible, NIV p. 206-207). Therefore, simple everyday possessions and pleasures can become idols. The T.V., the computer, video games, food, hobbies, vehicles, work, money, clothes, ourselves, the Easter Bunny; really anything. The list is endless. Vine’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible states that idolatry is traced to a lack of acknowledgement and gratitude to God. It further states that an idolater is a slave to the depraved ideas his idols represent, and thus, to numerous lusts. (p. 189). Eventually, whatever we concentrate or dwell on will influence our behavior and speech (Luke 6:45 ).

As I was writing this I looked up for a brief second at the T.V. and a real estate program was on. The woman on the show had both arms outstretched hugging an island in the kitchen of a house. She had to 'bow down' to hug the island. Hmmm, God's timing is interesting.

'For You, O Lord, are the Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.'

Prayer: Father, help me to identify the things and thoughts that I have allowed to become my idols.

Plan of Action(James 1:22 & 25): Take a moment to consider the many blessings God has given you, then express sincere gratitude to Him.

Read More: 1 Samuel 7:3