God's Heart

Isaiah 1: 27

Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.

If you want to see God’s heart, read chapter one of Isaiah. The parental frustrations we feel have been felt by the God who created us. His heart cries for his children. He wants to give us the very best, but we make it difficult because of our rebellion.

To get past the language barriers some Bible translations cause, I’ve made up my own paraphrase, the LSV, or Laura’s Simplified Version. I read verse 2 like this: “I raised children, but they rebelled against me.”

I know how it is to plan good for my children and have to change plans because I can’t let the in-my-face disobedience go by without notice. I have to make my kids aware that they’re not going to be rewarded for bad behavior.

God taught us how to raise our kids. He taught us how to love with kindness and with discipline. He taught us how to recognize the empty pleadings of children who aren’t sorry they sinned, but are sorry they got caught.

Verses 13-15 speak to that. (LSV: Laura’s Simplified Version) Stop begging. Your prayers aren’t being answered because they’re not being heard.

Or in The Message, it reads like this. “Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings – meetings, meetings, meetings, – I can’t stand one more! Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out! I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way.”

But God doesn’t complain about our bad behavior without giving a way to improve our attitudes and actions. Check out verse 17: (NASB) “Learn to do good. Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”

God also tries to give us help with our decision-making. He wants us to know that a reward is available. There is something to work toward. Verse 18-19 sounds like this to me: (LSV) Think this through. Be reasonable. There is hope for the obedient.

Part of the reward for obeying God fully is being known as God’s obedient child. Verse 26 lists a couple of other names: (LSV) After I restore justice, you will be known as the faithful and righteous city.

Just like I love my kids enough to do what it takes to help them turn away from bad behavior, God is determined to help us get our heads on straight. He’ll discipline us if we need it. God shows us that his ways are better than ours, and he will help us become what he designed us to be. Verse 27 is filled with hope for us. (NIV) “Zion will be redeemed with justice, her penitent ones with righteousness.”

Ignoring Empty Talk

Job 35:12-16

He does not answer when men cry out because of the arrogance of the wicked. Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea; the Almighty pays no attention to it. How much less, then, will he listen when you say that you do not see him, that your case is before him and you must wait for him, and further, that his anger never punishes and he does not take the least notice of wickedness. So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words.

I love my children. Always have. Always will. Nothing they do or say will change that – and they know that.

However, they sometimes become unhappy when they don’t get their way. In those situations, they tend to say things they don’t really mean. “Nobody loves me” is said just to vent frustrations. I’ve dealt with that attitude before, but now I usually ignore the empty words.

As a parent, it’s my job to train them to think, speak, and act with dignity and kindness. I’m supposed to teach them and show them love. Just as God gives me time to grow up spiritually and improve my attitude, I should allow my kids to make mistakes and learn from them.

I don’t correct my kids every time they say something wrong, and God doesn’t correct me every time I say something wrong. God ignores our empty words more often than we realize.

If you want to hear from God, give him something he can respond to. Give God your words of faith and love. Look in the Bible to see what he’s responded to in the past.

When my kids believe what I say and remind me of what I’ve said to them before, faith colors our discussion.

I believe God ignores our empty talk because he’s waiting for us to believe him – so he can respond to our faith.

God Will Take Care Of You

Job 34:21-22

"His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.”

Are you whistling in the dark? Trying to pretend you’re not scared? Why? God gives us plenty of reasons to relax.

When my mother was a little girl, she often had to walk alone to the neighbor’s house. Something she saw along her path scared her every time, but she still had to make the journey. To strengthen her courage and to keep her feet moving, she decided to sing the song she’d learned in church, “God Will Take Care of You”. Civilla D. Martin wrote those very comforting lyrics in 1905.

Once my mother got into the song, she wasn’t as worried. She continued singing the same song every time she was scared because it reminded her that she was never alone. Funny how God uses a variety of things to show his love. For her, it was a song. For you, it may be something different.

When you find yourself afraid to venture out into the tasks you must complete, talk to God about it. Let him know you trust his hand of protection. And then act like you trust him. Sing if you have to, but go where he leads.

Rescued From The Pit

Job 33:26-28

He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state. Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.'

The Lord is the one who rescues. He has made a way for everyone who reaches up to Him to be pulled from the pit.

If you think you’ve been in the pit, let me remind you that you still have breath and one more chance to return to the Lord. When you leave your last unrepentant breath behind, then you’ll know what the pit is really like. Hopefully, you’ll never experience that. Jesus did what was necessary to keep you out of the pit. Our responsibility is to accept his gift of pit-free life.

We can experience God’s goodness while we’re still on the Earth. We can find favor with God right now. He wants us to live and enjoy our lives. He wants to light our path with His love.

When you’re walking in the light of God’s love, look up to see His face. It’ll make you shout for joy.

Warnings

Job 33:15-18

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword.

God sees our days at a glance, like he’s flipping through a desk calendar. He knows what we’re planning to do and what trouble we’re likely to get into. Do we call to Him in advance of our trouble? Not usually.

But God is merciful. His mercy responds with a warning to us. If we think all is well and it isn’t, God may really wake us up in the middle of the night with a memorable message. The wake up call isn’t because God likes to scare us. He doesn’t. He likes to get us back on the right path so we won’t get ourselves into horrible trouble.

If you get a wake up call, answer. Respond to God with an appetite for obedience.

How God Answers

Job 33:13-14

Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man’s words? For God does speak – now one way, now another – though man may not perceive it.

Is there a proper way for God to communicate with us?

God communicates however he wants. He knows our limitations, and he knows how to get our attention.

We think we’re “all that”, but we’re wrong. God is “all that” and more.

We think God hides from us and won’t answer because he’s finicky. God isn’t at fault. We’re the ones who get picky about when and how God speaks. We want his answer on our timetable. And if we don’t like his answer, we get mad and hide from him.

We think our prayers are holy enough to make God do what we ask, but God shakes his head and answers us anyway. I’m pretty sure we are the ones who need to work on our communication skills.

We should probably read through the book of Job to get an education about God’s great love for us – and our great limitations in understanding God.

God Answers

Ps 120:1

I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

When I’m in distress, filled with worry, doubting that I’ll find the victory in my situation, I can know that all is not lost. God is still there.

No matter how bad I feel I’ve been treated, God is there. No matter if my distress was caused by someone else or caused by my own mistakes, God is there. No matter what situation I find myself in, God is there.

And if God is there, he hears my cry, and he answers.

God answers me in my distress with comfort. He answers with food on my table. He answers me by shutting the mouths of my enemies. And he answers by lifting me above the flood that would destroy me.

He may answer you in unexpected ways. He may not give you what you want. But he answers. And his answers are always for your good.

You can look at your blessings and see them as opportunities to praise God for his answers.

Acknowledging God

Psalm 91: 14-15

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.”

Like little children, we can be selfish. We expect God to answer us when we speak to him. But do we answer him? Do we acknowledge our relationship with him on a daily basis?

I once heard that you can get more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. This simply means that being sweet to others makes others want to be around you and do things with you and for you. If we show our love to God by being sweet to him and to those around us, if we trust in him instead of following our own foolishness, if we act like we’re God’s children because we honor him, then we are acknowledging his name.

When we firmly hold onto God and call to him, the logical next step is to listen. He has told us to call to him because he will answer.

Getting Answers From God

Psalm 3:4

To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill.

Do you cry out to the Lord? Many people are crying out right now, but some have forgotten how to get an answer.

It is important to direct our cries to the one who has the answers. Just the act of crying out our pleas for mercy and for help to no one in particular isn’t going to get us what we need. When we cry out to the wrong person, we won’t get what we need. Our peace comes from knowing that we’re speaking to someone who can provide the correct answers, someone who wants to help us.

It is important to know what to expect from the one we’re crying out to. When we cry aloud to the Lord, we can know that he is interested in shielding us, answering us, and sustaining us. He wants to bless us.

It is important to listen for the answer with the expectation that we’ll obey his instruction. What good is it to call to the Lord if we don’t concern ourselves with his answer? Why would he want to answer us when we have no intention of accepting his instruction? When we call to the Lord, we can be sure that the guidance we’re waiting for will bring us to a better place in our lives. He will help us achieve those little victories that keep us walking forward with no intention of looking back.

I love knowing that God is love. His answers are full of love because that is how he guides his children.

The Best Teacher

Ps 32:8

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Teachers are very important people. I love them. I’m related to a few of them. I know from experience that there are teachers who give a lot and teachers who can give very little. I’ve had teachers who have tried their best to bring lessons that would benefit me in some small way, and that’s exactly what happened. They benefited me in a very small way.

When God says He’ll give you instruction, accept His offer. He’s the best teacher you’ll ever find. When He says He’ll give you anything, accept His offer.

Instruction, wise counsel, forgiveness, and love are all things we can receive from someone else. It’s funny how we often look for love and forgiveness, but reject wisdom and instruction.

When that happens, I think we’re really just avoiding getting the wrong advice from the wrong teacher. We’ve all heard people giving out bad advice, and I agree that we should run from bad advice. But when the most experienced, most trustworthy, most wise teacher gives the invitation, we are fools to ignore Him.

For many years, I’ve been reading my Bible with the attitude that God has something for me in there. Something for that specific moment. It’s my job as the student to read the text and study the meanings until I understand the wise counsel and instruction in the words.

I’m grateful to God for His persistence with me. Every time I come to Him, I’m able to come away with something good to help me with my day. So I encourage you to open your heart to His instruction. God is a good teacher because He knows how you learn – and because He loves you.

God's Everyday Gifts

Psalm 16:2

I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."

It’s interesting how kids take their toys for granted. The kids don’t have jobs, so they can’t go out and purchase toys for themselves. They don’t have credit cards so they can’t order them online. They don’t realize that apart from their parents’ generous efforts (and gifts from others at Christmas and birthdays), they have no good thing.

This also applies to meals. My children are dependent on me for meals. If my husband and I don’t take them out to a restaurant or don’t buy groceries, they don’t eat. They rarely realize that apart from their parents’ efforts, they have no good meal.

You would think that as we grow older we would learn to appreciate God’s generosity. You’d think we would acknowledge God’s everyday gifts.

However if you look around, you’ll see how Americans have started to drift from the truth. We seem to look to food or entertainment for our comfort. We look to an employer for financial security. We look to an insurance company for security.

I believe God provides us with opportunities to interact with these businesses in a healthy relationship. But we seem to walk blindly away from God, mesmerized by our own decision-making power. We love the surge of power that comes from asking, “What do I want to do?”

I want to see this country turn the corner and head back to God with the question, “What does God want me to do?” I want to see this country pull together and try to salvage whatever love we still have for each other instead of growing colder and farther apart in our lust for self-power. I want to see this country realize that even in our self-righteous arrogance, we are dependent on God – and He still loves us.

I want to see this country get back to God because apart from Him, we have no good thing.

Give Me Understanding

Psalm 119:73

Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.

I’m thinking about food this month on my other blog, Blogging Domino. Cooking is a great way to escape the stresses of the day and relax with the aroma of warm bread or grilling meat. Practicing your culinary skills can be an outlet for your creativity as well.

One thing I’ve noticed through the years at family gatherings or at friends’ homes is that people are different in the way they approach cooking. Some use precise measurements. Others can look at a handful of cornstarch and know exactly how much they’re putting into the mixture.

My husband is the kind of cook who goes by the recipe. However, I don’t like to be bound by the limitations of the cook book. I add something each time to make it a little different than the last time I made the recipe. My niece has encouraged me with kind words about my salads. It’s rare that I ever make the same exact salad twice.

I think God gave me my ability to enjoy an incredible variety of things. But God made my son too. He’s a creative young man, but a very picky eater.

God creates people so that there is an enormous variety on Earth. No two people in my large extended family like exactly the same things.

That’s why I go to God so often. He made me and knows how I think. If I have questions about something, God would have the answer faster than any of my family or friends. God can give me understanding when I’m confused.

When you taste a soup that isn’t like any other soup you’ve tasted, you can go to the chef who made it and ask what’s in it. When you have a question about people, go to God. He’s the one who cooked up the original recipe and can tell you what’s in it.