Blaming God

Back on Feb. 18th, 2011, God had placed Numbers 11 on my heart to share with the MOPS ladies.  Then today as I studied Session 5 - Day Two of "No Other Gods" for Tues. Bible Study" I realized that it was all from the same passage of scripture.  I want to share some thoughts from that discussion back in February and see how it all ties right in to today's discussion.  God is so good!

NOTES:

List blessings or areas of our lives that we want God to change?  Are we really thankful?

What if your husband or someone you loved romantically was diagnosed with cancer and had six months to live?  What if it was you?  What if it was your child?

Why do we blame God?

What if he answered all our prayer requests the way we wanted?  Like the Israelites and the quail.  In the midst of God performing a miracle & sending manna from heaven, they are complaining.

What if we gave our children everything they asked for whenever they wanted?

Good things do happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.

Sign of maturity in walk with God - accepting whatever God's plan is.

Are you going through a test or trial right now?  Is God testing you to see if you will follow him and trust him?

When we focus on what we do not have rather than on what we do have, we tend to forget the hardships from which God already has delivered us.  Israel remembered the food, but forgot the slavery.  Grass is greener on the other side mentality.....not.

Prayer Journal - once a day or once a week, write down what God has done for you and your family.

Just as God blesses an obedient spirit, so he always judges a complaining spirit (1 Cor. 10:10).  No one can grumble & honor God at the same time.

Worshipping God - have you ever REALLY stopped to understand exactly what the words are to various worship songs.  I have a recommendation for you, next time just listen instead of singing and ask yourself do I really believe the words that I am singing.

Think of songs like "I Surrender All" - do you really?  (funny because God put that song on my heart before this past Tuesday's discussion and I played the song for the ladies in our discussion group but it had been on my heart back when I originally shared this word too)

How about the song "How can I keep from Singing" by Chris Tomlin?

I pray that you will be blessed and encouraged to stop blaming God when things don't go the way we might think it should go and remember all the good things that God has done in our lives.  I know that I have been in the situation that the Israelites found themselves in when they asked God for meat and he gave it to them but it became rotten in their mouths.  I have experienced where God has answered a prayer that I asked for but it became rotten and caused leanness in my soul.

God is in control and we need to put our faith and trust in him no matter what!!!!

I SURRENDER ALL

I am an Adulteress

Shocking?  Not really.  I have NOT been unfaithful to my husband but I have been unfaithful to God.

I have never been an adulteress or been called one but that is what the following scripture says that I am.

James 4:4 (NKJV) says "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?  Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

So, I was reading once again in the book, "No Other Gods" for Tuesday Morning Bible Study and then I got to Week 4 - Day 1 and this passage of scripture hit me like a ton of bricks.

What, me an adulteress?  Never!!!!!  Then as I read further I realized that what the scripture is saying is so true.  Once we give our lives to God and we are the bride of Christ and we place people or things before God that we are adulterers or adulteress' because we are being unfaithful to God.

Now I need to take some time and really let this soak in......more thoughts to come later!  Are you an adulterer or adulteress?  I know that I have been but I am working on not putting other people or other things before God.....one day and one hour at a time.  I do not want to be unfaithful to my God who loves me so much!  He has really been getting my attention, what about you?

Confidence

Yesterday my husband, Corey shared a verse with me that had really spoken to him and we decided to make that a memory verse for both of us.  The verse is Jeremiah 17:7.  Below is that verse in several different versions of the Bible.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." (NIV)

“ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD."  (NKJV)
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." (NLT)

Then this morning I was studying, Session 3 - Day 4 of NOGS (No Other Gods) for Tuesday Morning Bible Study and the author was asking "What do you put your confidence in?".  How appropriate for what we were already meditating on!  God wants us to put our confidence in him, not in everything else.

So I decided to look up the word "confidence".  What does it mean?

a: a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances <had perfect confidence in her ability to succeed> <met the risk with brash confidence>   

b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way <have confidence in a leader>

 

I know that putting our confidence solely in God instead of those things (false gods) that we are used to can be scary.  Also, in this section of the book "No Other Gods", we are reading 2 Chronicles 31 & 32.  I will admit that I am definitely feeling like King Hezekiah right now.  At the end of Chapter 31 in verse 20 & 21, Hezekiah is following God and then in the absolute next verse the scriptures talk about how a rival king is planning to attack and looking to take over.  Here is verse 20 & 21.

 

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 - This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God.  In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

 

I know that because we have made up our minds to totally surrender areas of our lives that have been controlling us and put our total confidence in the Lord that we are going to be attacked.  Here is the next verse.

 

2 Chronicles 32:1 - After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. 

 

We are going to continue to put our trust and confidence in our Lord because we know that he is on our side and he is watching out for us and we must surrender every area of our lives to him.  Another scripture that really speaks to me and I have been meditating on recently is Daniel 3:16-18 which is below.

 

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

 

What faith and trust in God!!!!  My prayer is that we will have faith like this.  These men of God believed that God could save them from the fiery furnace but even if he didn't save them, they stood on the fact that he could have saved them.  How many of us believe that God can save us from our circumstances and give us victory but even if he doesn't, we know that he can!  Stand on that promise, we are!!!!!