| ............ | A Word In Due Season April 2022 4/1/22 LED BY THE SPIRIT Scripture: Romans 8:14 " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Our loving Heavenly Father is just like any earthly father and continually deals with us and tries to lead us in the right paths. He is concerned with every aspect of our lives and always has our best interest in mind. His Holy Spirit speaks to our spirits, giving us a sense of direction and reminding us to stay in the bounds of God's commandments. We can rest assured that His continual dealings with us are for our benefit, as He desires to fulfill His promises to us and complete His purposes within us. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you ... to give you a future and a hope in your final outcome." Yet, it is altogether possible to miss the destiny that God has planned for us if we do not follow Him. Psalms 32:8 says, "I, the Lord, will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel or guide you with my eye." This brings to memory my own parents who instructed me and taught me the proper way to act. When I disobeyed, I felt grieved knowing that I had failed their expectations. It took only one glance from them in my direction, and the expression in their eyes would call me to repentance very quickly. I had a choice to either change my behavior or continue in rebellion and reap the consequences. David continued in Psalm 32 to tell us that we are not to be stubborn as horses or mules that have to be forced in the right direction with bits and bridles because they have no understanding. We are given a choice. We can choose to be led by the Holy Spirit and follow God's instructions and gentle reminders or we can be restricted by God as He attempts to keep us on the right path. God feels the same towards us as we feel toward our own children. He takes no pleasure in having to restrict us as though we have no spiritual direction. God's will is that we seek Him and be sensitive to His voice and that we behave as mature sons and daughters. Consider these questions as you endeavor to follow God and be led by His Spirit. 1) Do my thoughts line up with the Word of God? 2) Does the Spirit of God bear witness with my spirit? 3) Will my decision lead me closer to God or away from Him? 4) Am I following after peace? 5) Is God providing for me to go in this direction? 6) Am I listening to God's voice or being influenced by the opinions of others? 7) Has my decision been confirmed by godly counsel? +++ 4/4/22 GREAT EXPLOITS Scripture: Daniel 11:32 "But the people who know their God shall be strong and do great exploits." We live in an amazing time, which is moving very fast. Each day there is something unpredictable and spectacular that happens in the world and we are able to witness it through the miracle of modern media. We wonder, "What is going to happen next?” Although we are not told everything about the future, we do know that this season of history will require much faith on our part so that we can face the challenges that will come our way. God is now and will be our only help in the times to come. Daniel was a man who was thrown into the lion's den because he worshiped God. He prayed and gave thanks to God openly three times a day even though the king had established a royal statute against it. The king had decreed the penalty of death to anyone who was caught praying to any God instead of honoring the king himself. Daniel was left in the lion's den all night long, but came out without any manner of hurt because he believed in his God (Daniel 6:23). We must understand that Daniel's faith in God did not start when he was put into the den with the lions. He had come to know God in a mighty way through His daily prayers and communion with God. He had spent personal time alone with God on a regular basis, which caused him to be strong when adversity came his way. He did not shrink in fear because he had developed a personal trust in God and believed that God could and would deliver him. There is no way for us to prepare for tomorrow in the natural but we can be ready in the spirit. We must listen to the words of Daniel, for he made it clear that there was a distinction between the people who know their God and the people who do not know Him. Daniel declared that the people who knew their God would be strong. God will give us understanding of the times and strength to endure all things if we get to know who He is and what He will do. We must seek to know the Lord and to know the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10). Then when we turn to God for help in the times of trouble, He will be able do mighty things in our lives because our faith in Him is strong and mature. God cannot be just the storybook God that we read about in the Bible. Instead, we must recognize Him as the one and only sovereign God and allow Him to be the supreme ruler of our hearts. We must know that nothing happens without His knowledge and that He holds our lives in the palm of His hands. We have nothing to worry about, for God is greater than the king's decree of death and He can still shut the mouths of the lions that come against our lives. The Lord has full control. All we must do is to study His Word and get a revelation of who God is and then spend time with Him so that we learn to believe in Him and know that we can trust in Him. As we do, we will become strong and be able to do great exploits through Him. +++ 4/5/22 COMFORTING OTHERS Scripture: II Corinthians 1:4 (NIV) "(God) Who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." Life is not as simple as it seemed to be a few decades ago. Trials and tribulations are multiplying for most of us and the enemy of our soul is seeking to wear us out with his challenging situations. Problems come and doubts try to overshadow our faith and destroy our trust in God. With everything that is happening in the world today, our security is dwindling and confusion is moving in, attempting to drive away our peace. As personal heartaches and disappointments occur, our joy vanishes. Many times, we cannot understand what is happening and eventually we find ourselves at a loss and overwhelmed with even life itself. Recently, a friend asked me, "Where do you go to give up?" His trust was in the Lord and he was a strong believer in God's Word. He had a high level of faith and was not truly serious about quitting life, but the immediate frustrations were making a grand toll on his patience and endurance. Sometimes giving up is an enticing remedy, but the Word lets us know that there are purposes for our trials and tribulations. The Apostle James said that the trying of our faith works or produces patience. It is in the hard places of life that we learn to wait upon God and trust in His promises. It is in the valleys that we come to know that the Lord truly is our Shepherd and that He will keep us safe, restore our soul, and supply our every need. The Apostle Paul made another interesting statement. He said that the things that we have gone through help us to be able to comfort others who are in any kind of trouble. Our experiences, good and bad, help us to relate to others. Our pains create a place within our heart so that we can understand the hurts that others harbor within their souls and our failures enable us to recognize the disappointments that torment their minds. Even Jesus was tempted in all points of life like we are so that He could be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus is able to comfort and lead us out of our dark valleys because of His own experience. And it is through the comfort that we receive from Him that our hearts expand enough so that God can use us to draw others out of their valleys of despair. As you see others walking the path of trouble, I encourage you to allow God to minister through you just as He has ministered to you. It is not a complicated task. Just be a strong voice in the silence that surrounds the hurting soul who is listening for a God Word in due season. Be a shoulder to lean upon for those who are going through hard times. Be a helping hand to the weary. Let the light that God shared with you be the sunshine in their darkness. Let the salt that He has placed in your life give spiritual flavor to the hopeless. Share the Bread of Life that you have received with the hungry and the Living Water with the thirsty. Jesus promised that He would never leave you or forsake you, so never turn the hurting away. They need the gift that God has placed within you. Show compassion and simply be a comfort to those who are in any trouble as the Lord has been a comfort to you. +++ Copyright © 2021 Mary Padgett Ministries. All Rights Reserved www.widsonline.com |
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