Waiting on God – His Characteristics
June 2018 • Volume XVI Number 12
”But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. “ (2 Corinthians 3:18)
THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION:
Greetings again my Brethren.
Like all things in God time will tell what we have learned and what we still have to learn. Time is something we all have the same of and no matter what we say or do (unless God intervenes) cannot alter. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes tells us, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) even waiting on God. From our thoughts so far let us look at some truths we can observe from our waiting on God. There are five observations I would like to look at from our writing thus far thoughts that will give us a clearer perspective of the importance of our waiting on God. The first observation is taken from 2 Kings, “And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?” (2 Kings 6:33) While we wait there is a danger of becoming (a process) impatient with God and his seeming delays and perceived failure to respond. How many times we have thought these words? How many times have we talked ourselves out of waiting on God because God did not march to our drum beat? Well God is God and we are not. God does things according to His eternal purposes, oh I know we have heard this time and time again, but have we really learned it? We all know the answer to this question is no. Funny how we know things in God, but we do not do them. Why God does not move in our time I do not know. Oh we say He is lining things up for our benefit well maybe so, but really that does not matter we must really learn God is God and we are not. And He does things for His good pleasure. Paul tell us in Philippians, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) God has a “will” and “good pleasure” of His (and His alone) to work in us and if we cannot accept this truth we are only wasting our time serving Him. Too many Christians like to twist God’s arms and beat Him over the head with His own word trying to manipulate God into doing things at the time he maybe does not want to do them. This my friend is dangerous. Believe it or not God has things under His control even if we cannot see what He is doing. Our part is to just go along for the ride and faith in God He can do the things He has said he will do. The second observation is found in Psalms 106, “They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel: 14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. 15 And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106:13-15) There is a danger of failing to wait for the counsel of God. There is always a consequence in our lives when we do not wait for the counsel of God. When we do not wait to hear from God and move out on our own we are on the thinnest of ice. Here we see there were reasons why the Children of Israel did not wait on God. They “lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.” Their focus was not on the LORD who delivered them from the grip and slaughter of Pharaoh. Who also provided for them day and night with a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, who fed them with manna and quail (sounds kind of like us today) but their heart was fixed on the past pleasures of Egypt and the dangers before them if they go forward into what God wanted to do in their lives. So God sent leanness into their soul.” Do we understand what “leanness into their souls” means? Well they had all of their physical needs met, but inwardly in their hearts they were not satisfied. There was an inward gnaw that nothing could touch it. No matter what happened no matter what God did for them because of their lust and tempting of God (their true heart condition) God gave them this dissatisfaction. Sounds like many people even Christians today. God knows our heart. God gave them everything, but at the same time to change their heart God also gave them leanness unto their souls. You would say God would never do that, well remember the first observation? God is God and we are not? Their response to God was not a change in their heart what God was looking for (sounds like us today), but “They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD. 17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.” (Psalm 106:16-18) As I said there is always consequences for our actions. When we do not give God the response He is looking for in time He will raise the stakes. Instead of a heart change the people, “envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.” And God had enough. The Scriptures does not say how long God waited for a change but in the end, “The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. 18 And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.” (Psalm 106:17-18) My friend there are consequences for us not waiting on God. The hard, wrathful, but loving God of the Old Testament is the same merciful, longsuffering, and grace filled loving God of the New Testament, but God does mean what He says.
Next month we will continue to look at the remaining three observations from our waiting. Walter Beuttler said if you build God a temple He will inhabit it. Have you built God a temple? If you do He will abide and wait for you.
Written by David Stahl
ARTICLE REVIEW:
Our Will
If you have ever had any second thoughts if God loves us just watch an animal show on TV. Karen and I like to watch (no we are not tree huggers) National Geographic Wild or Animal Planet (there seldom is anything worth watching on TV to include what we call “Christian” TV a real oxymoron) We are amazed at how God patterned the animal kingdom after its own kind and imprinted in their lives the desire for self-preservation (if you do not believe me just go fishing and draw a fish from the water it will do everything it can to escape to save its life) and a desire to produce seed after it own kind. We are amazed at how God put in place indwelling drives and desires to eat certain foods; some animal (no matter the size, age or sex) are meat eaters while others eat plants trees, and leaves. What a perfect balance to life and death God has built into the animal kingdom. Now some people would say this all happened by accident or at best it all was random selection starting from an one celled animals — to this I say, “camel cookies!” Back in the Book of Genesis (which is not a book on creation) God spoke the animal kingdom into existence (which means the chicken came first and not the egg) and then He made man. “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was good. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:24-25) Then God made man. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26-28) The Book of Genesis is not about creation if it is then God sure left out a whole lot of details, oh no my friend the Book of Genesis is about what God says and does. In the first Chapter alone God said (“And God said”) did something happened 18 times. This my friend is a continual theme all throughout the Bible that we must allow to grip our soul — if God says something then it will come to pass if we allow it to happen in our lives. Remember God speaking is always His intention for us and whether it comes to pass is not up to God nor His power, but up to us by being willing to walk in the condition God has measured out for us to meet so that we will be able to move in the revelation of His speaking to us. Funny how God’s will has little to do with God, but everything to do with us. God can only do and say what He wills (His desire for our lives) He does not try to trick us or set us up for failure He only speaks His will to us in ways (both written and spoken word as well as by the Holy Spirit to our inner spirit man) we know that we know for sure God is speaking to us. Here in verse 24 God said some things and they came to pass. Then in verse 28 God said more things and they too came to pass and notice “God blessed” (God’s first blessing) man and woman. Man was made much different than animals, fish, birds, etc. Man was given a will of His own to make choices that animals (nor Angels for that matter) were not given. Animals have no choice (they have been imprinted from birth) what they will eat, where they will live, when they will procreate, and to a certain degree when they will die. All it takes for a huge giraffe to die is get separated from his herd and for him to meet a pride of lions. Funny though how man seems to think more of animals than they do of people. Today (maybe only in America) an animal’s life seems to be more sacred than a human life. The will of man to keep life alive in the womb has been lost since 1973 and man keeps passing laws to fulfill his selfish desires (to fulfill man’s will) against what God says to be true and lawful. Just because the Supreme Court of America passes a law to sanction the death of a baby does not make it okay with God. America is answering for this today. Yet in all of this man is different than the animals he was made in God’s image. God loves man very much in spite of man’s open rebellion. God gave man a soul and blessed him (and woman) with an ability to do the things animals cannot do. And one of those things God gave man was a free will. There are 1,000s and 1,000s of churches in American (many types of denominations) to remind us of this. We all have a free will. If we have been born into the earth we all have a free will and at times we can choose not to do what God would will for our lives. Jesus told the disciples and people who followed him, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Mark 8:34) Now we cannot not take up Jesus’ cross we all have our own personal cross to take up and I believe it has something to do with our will. It is our will which is a part of the cross we must take up and bear — our will laid across God’s will for our life and in the construct of the two wills is our response of obedience (or of no obedience) God is looking for. Even Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane had a will that was not what the Father wanted for His life, but Jesus knew His purpose and reason for living and that was to die. In Matthew we read of Jesus, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” (Matthew 26:39,42) If you want to go with God you must always go “a little further” and fall down on our face, but here Jesus clearly has a will that was contrary to the Father’s. Jesus here demonstrated not once, but twice what God is looking for when our wills clash, “not as I will, but as thou wilt.” God is always looking for our obedience to His will the first time He speaks. If God has to keep speaking to us again and again, twisting our arms then our obedience is not genuine from our heart, but has been coerced. This is not what God is after in our lives. God is after obedience the first time thoughtfully and willfully. We all have a will and at the heart of our will is the way we conduct ourselves. I know some of the greatest losses I have experienced is the loss of relationships by a willful act. I have written in the past about a friend (yes I still consider him a friend 30 years is a long time to throw under the bus) and who I love very much (and am hoping he changes his mind), but he has made a willful decision to break off relationship with me because I spoke the truth (even though he does not believe that from his perspective) to him. Measure your words when you tell someone the truth about themselves. And now he has made another willful decision to gather people (people we both know) against me. I sent an email to a pastor friend in Kenya (who I have known since 1995) who replied back thinking he was sending an email to my friend asking him if he can talk to me. Well I emailed my pastor friend back and asked him why he had to ask my other friend’s permission to talk with me and got back a flowery email saying how much he loves and appreciates me, but we both know this was a lie. Words cannot cover the real spirit of a man if one has a spiritual discernment. Our will is powerful it can come with great deception to the truth if we refuse to honestly examine our heart (I have done this before) and then lead people astray thinking they are in the right and justified in their actions. Yet I too have a will and have chosen to look past and to be honest my heart is heavy from the loss of relationship. We must take heed to how our will is employed especially when it comes to people we esteem and value. I see a growing trend and danger in the church globally where leaders are looking to men instead of the Holy Spirit. The practice of mentorship (a business term) and accountability before men is ever growing in acceptance, well this all is nothing more than old fashion manipulation and control to bend ones’ will after another’s will or to get them to do and think a certain way. In the church it is the appearance of the perceived spiritual prowess of the mentor where the deception is found. We must take heed in this area. The writer to the Hebrews says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” not looking at man and his abilities to lead or inspire. Mentorship is not a spiritual principle in the Bible and we must not get caught up in such a worldly practice.
Lastly as I read the Bible I see verses that talk about a perfect will and a good will and even have heard people talk about God’s permissive (word not in the KJV) will and yes I use to believe God allowed these different wills into our lives, but now I do not believe this is so. God’s will is not by degree or doled out, but is like His salvation either we are saved or we are not there is no middle ground. Either we are in God ‘s will or we are not and only God’s will comes to us out from our of obedience to Him. Funny how we really know if we are in God’s will. Oh we may try to fool people into believing we are doing what God wants us to be doing, but in our heart we know the only person we have fooled is our self. Recently my big brother, Karen, and I were talking and he made this statement, “ministry is a good place for people to hide. We can do all of this stuff and not allow God to deal in our heart.” Looking back over my many years of ministry I can see this to be true in my life at times and in the lives of others. It is our will right or wrong that keeps us going and if not careful it will be our will that will take us far out of God.
Written by David Stahl
THOUGHTS FROM KAREN:
Our Mission
Having been in the military (four years) and being a military wife (23 years) has had some perks as far as my Christian walk is concerned. In the military as a group you’re focused on the “mission.” You are pretty much forced to work together regardless of your background, everybody else’s background, personal likes and dislikes all for the sake of the mission. Everyone receives orders to the command (office, headquarters, etc) and the unity of purpose at the command is developed and accomplished by the understanding of and then the execution of the “mission.” There’s a leader who calls the shots and the rest of us hear and obey (if we know what’s good for us!) In the military setting one forms relationships much faster than our civilian friends. Sometimes these can be lifelong relationships, but mostly quick for a shorter period of time. I’ve heard the statement that if you move into a particular New England state you could be considered “the new kid on the block” for decades, not so in GOD. Apparently it takes a long time up there to forge relationships, but if we look at the Bible Jesus was only with the 12 disciples for three years. Almost the same amount of time as a typical tour of duty in the military. If we Christians are on the same “wave length” with GOD it shouldn’t matter how long we know other Christians to be able to work or fellowship with them. We all have the common denominator, Jesus Christ, in our lives and we all have been given our joint “mission” to share the Gospel which should be our number one concern. Our leader, Jesus Christ, gave us the church our mission: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18). So there you have it the churches marching orders, our mission statement. “Go” then still means “Go” today. Actually “Go” is translated, “as you are going” or as you are living your life. Same as in Matthew 28:19. We do a fair job preaching, but when was the last time you saw the sick “recover?” We seem to do a lot of praying, but Jesus here did not saying anything about praying Jesus said, “lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” When was the last time you saw anyone delivered from a devil? There must be devils out there or Jesus would not have instructed us to “cast out devils.” If we’re not accomplishing what Jesus said to do then what the heck are we doing? Sadly the church is way off balance, way off the wave length with Jesus. We the church corporately and pastors are not the captains of our own ship. Oh I know we think we are, but we are not. And it’s not about our agenda or the pastors agenda. It’s supposed to be about Jesus’ agenda! The church has gotten off track, from what Jesus wanted well over 2,000 years ago. Today we huddle in our little churches and take care of ourselves and the heck with everybody outside the church doors. Something is very wrong here. We’re off our mission, we’re going our own way. Oswald Chambers said it this way: “The church ceases to be a spiritual society when it is on the lookout for the development of its own organization.” (My Utmost For His Highest 12 July) How true, how true. The church, corporately has forgotten Jesus’ mission. and has substituted its own mission and agenda. So how’s that working out for us? Not too good I’m afraid. Dave and I know a church in Romania that has an outreach to their community in way of free medical help. A doctor comes to the church once or twice a week and all in the community are welcome to avail themselves to the doc’s services for free. Other folks have Christian soccer camps and reach out to the area youths and form soccer leagues. They feed the kids before practice have a Bible study then play soccer all for free. It’s a win- win situation! We know of young couples in Macedonia who open up little after school centers that help tutor the area children, providing snacks and a safe friendly environment for the children to finish homework, and then they hear about Jesus (most of whom are not Christian) all for free. They reach out to the community they just don’t take care of their own which of course they also do for free. I could go on and on how those with the least give the most to the lost in their community. Oh I know some churches do reach out to their community, but as a whole “the church” has lost a desire to see the lost come to Jesus. They have turned inward because of dwindling resources and are concerned with only the people who attend services. No wonder GOD is not providing for them they’ve forgotten the mission statement. When we do what GOD tells us to do things just work out and our needs are met. Folks it’s time to get back on track. It is time to get back to the mission statement and reach out to the people in our community who don’t have Jesus in their lives. From personal experience we know how that confused and destructive living goes. They need to hear the good news that GOD loves them and has provided a way for them to be saved. So let’s get crackin and accomplish our mission and tell someone about Jesus.
Written by Karen Stahl
NEEDS NO WANTS:
- In Silistra, Bulgaria Pastor(s) Niki Marsov and Emil Nedelchev. Included now are missionaries from Romania Nicu and Elena. Times are troubled in Bulgaria much prayer and support is needed.
- Constanta, Romania Pastors Luke and Jacob at Bethel Church and George Ritisan at the Romanian Center for Cross-cultural Studies Bible School and the Faru (Lighthouse) Church.
- In Suceava, Romania Pastors Nicu and Marcel at St. Andrews Church. They are still standing by God’s grace.
- Pastor Joseph Mutua in Nairobi, Kenya needs your prayer and financial support.
- Pastor Mike Olufemi in Aveile, Nigeria. He needs our prayers and support to be a light in great darkness.
- Pastor S. J. Peter, Founder of DAWN Ministries in Hyderabad and Pastor Wilson and his son Pastor Julian in Sankaraguptham, India.
- Pastor Metin Mintaz, Dan, Cathy, and members of Uskudar Son Buyruk Kilisesi in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Pastor Elieti Msangi in Dar Es Salaam and Pastors Isreal Mutaitina and John Balone in Bukoba, Tanzania.
- Monthly financial support for Vivian’s Maternity and Child Care Clinic project in Aviele, Nigeria.
- Pastor Tek Dahl at Gethsemane, Church (his church) and their radio station “Good News 105.1 FM” in Kathmandu, Nepal.
- Bishop John, Samuel Kamanzi (from the Congo), and, Emmanuel Ndolimana in Ruhengeli, Rwanda.
NEXT HOME GROUP MEETING:
14 August 2018 & 28 August 2018 at 7:00 pm
At 232 Everett Drive
Sneads Ferry, NC 28460
7:00 pm please RSVP
Home: (910) 741-0489
FUTURE SCHEDULE:
August: Local Ministry
September: Local Ministry
October: Local Ministry
I am still available to share what God has given me at churches and/or home groups. If God moves on your heart to support BHG or other ministries we personally know we would be honored to serve as a go between. Remember, if we want a blessing from God the spiritual principle is we must bless others. Remember, God is to you what you are to God.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Address:
David and Karen Stahl
232 Everett Drive
Sneads Ferry, NC 28460
Phone:
Home: (910) 741-0489
Mobile: (910) 382-9287
FAX: (910) 741-0489
Email:
dstahl@beholdinghisglory.com
Website:
www.www.beholdinghisglory.com/
Blog:
http://bhisglory.blogspot.com/
The AuthorHouse link below will lead you to our latest book, “Thoughts for Consideration.” Just copy it into your web browser and return. Also you can purchase two of our other books “Adventures with God.” and “God Still Performs Miracles: A Book of Personal Encouragement.”
http://www.authorhouse.com/AuthorCenter/Protected/BookHome.aspx?bookID=61464
Please take a minute and take a look, they all make for a great encouraging gift, giving hope and sharing God’s love through a deeper teaching that someone can enjoy again and again. All of our books can be purchased at all book stores like Barnes and Nobles, Borders, Book-A-Million, and etc., any Christian Book Store that orders, and all book ordering on-line companies like Amazon.com. Or if you are like me from the old school just contact us, we will let you know the price and then we will mail it out to your home address. Postage and handling is on a case by case basis.
If you know someone you think would enjoy receiving this newsletter or if you receive this newsletter and do not wish to please let me know. Contributions to this ministry is always appreciated and needed the more time continues. Please feel free to contact us with the above information. The cost is great, but the cost for not supporting to others is even greater. And remember, all donations are tax deductible.
