Practical teachings from the Bible for every day living.
In part one of this series Soaring with Eagles: How to Know You Are Destined for Greatness we mentioned there are clues about man in the creation of the eagle. We spoke about the ‘swiftness’ of the eagle and how Johnathan and Saul were designated eagles. But there are other ‘eagle’ clues about you. Let’s look at a second one.
Inside of you God has put seeds of greatness. Those seeds are to germinate and blossom, that’s the will of God for your life. Satan has tried to mess the harvest up by getting mankind off into sin. But Jesus has come! Now through the new birth those seeds are renewed in you. That’s the good news. Any man in Christ is destined for greatness.
Josh McDowell told this great story. An executive hirer, a “headhunter” who goes out and hires corporation executives for other firms, once told me, “When I get an executive that I’m trying to hire for someone else, I like to disarm him. I offer him a drink, take my coat off, then my vest, undo my tie, throw up my feet and talk about baseball, football, family, whatever, until he’s all relaxed. Then, when I think I’ve got him relaxed, I lean over, look him square in the eye and say, “What’s your purpose in life?” It’s amazing how top executives fall apart at that question. “Well, I was interviewing this fellow the other day, had him all disarmed, with my feet up on his desk, talking about football. Then I leaned up and said, ‘What’s your purpose in life, Bob?’ And he said, without blinking an eye, ‘To go to heaven and take as many people with me as I can.’ For the first time in my career I was speechless.” What about you? Do you know what your place is in God? Do you know how to find it?
Once while Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, he was asked, “What would you do if you suddenly learned that you where to die at sunset today?” He replied, “I would finish hoeing my garden.” – Francis of Assisi 1. This is the answer of man who knows he is in the place he should be in. You can gain this sense of peace. You can walk in this confidence. It comes by knowing how to find your place.
God is omni-‘many things’. He is omniscient, a fancy word for all-knowing. God knows everything about your life and everyone’s life on planet earth. God is also, omnipotent meaning there is no power greater than what God possesses. Lastly, God is omnipresent meaning He is everywhere present at the same time. Have you wondered how God does that? How can He be everywhere all of the time? Whether we understand it or not, it is still true which brings up yet another question. How do you come to a God who is already there?
The world is a negative place. Just turn on the nightly news if you doubt it. I very rarely tune into the news because of this. You can protect yourself from all the gloominess but it takes some work. If you aren’t proactive, it’s easy to be swept away in the tidal wave of negativity around you. Jack Nicholson said, “In my last year of school, I was voted Class Optimist and Class Pessimist. Looking back, I realize I was only half right 1. No matter which half are you, you can grow. You can be an up person in a down world.
Angels are spectacular mysterious beings. In today’s age, there’s much conversation about them. This is nothing new. Paul speaking to the Colossian church warned them about worshiping angels (Col. 2:18). While we are not to worship angels or put them on pedestals, the Bible does speak much of them, 295 times to be exact. So, what can learn from them? What practical lessons can we learn about God from them?
The French philosopher Pascal said there is a “God-shaped vacuum” inside every human heart. Since nature abhors a vacuum, if we don’t fill it with God, we will fill it with something else. So many of us have filled our hearts with the junk food of the world 1. Some have gone past junk food and gone chemical to the point of addiction. Chemical cravings are as old as time. The Bible gives ample proof that excessive drinking of intoxicants was a common vice among the Hebrews, as among other ancient peoples (Noah, Gen. 9:21; Lot, Gen. 19:33, 35; Nabal, 1 Samuel 25:30; Amnon 1 Samuel 13:28; Elah, 1 Kings 16:9) 2. Despite the long history, there is hope, help, and healing for those caught in the enslavement of substance abuse.
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George Muller prayed in 7.5 million dollars for his orphanage work without one single person being asked to contribute. Many asked Mr. Muller how he sought to know the will of God, in that nothing was undertaken, not even the smallest expenditure, without feeling it was certain he was in the will of God. You can find his answer here. Do you desire to be as passionate about God’s will as George Mueller was? Here are some Bible thoughts to equip you along this line.
In the first post of this series, “What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up”, we looked at how fatigue factored into Elijah’s desire to quit life and ministry. We looked at the importance of keeping up with your physical needs. In part two of this series, “More What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up” we looked at some other factors like comparison and focusing on facts instead of feelings. In this final post, “Even More What to Do When You Feel Like Giving Up” here are some concluding points on responsibility and failure.
In the book, the Art of War the following quote appears. “The opportunity to secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself” 1 Sun Tzu must have gotten this piece of wisdom from reading the Bible. This is exactly what took place through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. In his week’s post, let’s look at the strategic nature of the the Throne of God.