Ecclesiastes 11:3  – “…if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the thought of “Life Lived” filled my thoughts.    Pilate said about the inscription he had placed over the Cross of Jesus, “What I have written, I have written.”  

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 11:3, “…if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it shall be.”   Life lived can’t be unlived.   Once life is lived, that defines its eternity.  Changes must be made NOW!

In Ecclesiastes 9:11, Solomon offered a powerful revelation we all need.  The race is not to the swift.  Although the speedy in a natural competition do win, in the race of life, just going fast does not equate to victory.   In nature, in the spiritual realm, and in life, the strongest do not always win the battle.  Timing, planning, strategy, and opportunity are mitigating factors.

He concluded, saying, “…because time and chance happen to them all.” Does God’s plan depend on random chance?   Heaven forbid!   The word time (Hebrew) is season.  The Hebrew word translated as “chance” is actually used in 1 Kings 5:4 to mean “misfortune.”    Seasons of life come to all.   Misfortune is a common occurrence in life.  We get one chance, in the sense of one lifetime, to get things right.

Peter said in 2 Peter 1:10 – “Be diligent; for through your good deeds, you make your calling and election sure; and when you do these things, you shall never fall.” What things?

Go back to verses 2-9.   It is knowing Jesus intimately.  It is the precious promises that enable us to partake of His divine nature, escaping corruption.   It is faith that perseveres with virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and Agape.  It is full surrender to God.   

Ecclesiastes 11:10 – “Therefore remove (something we do) anger from your heart…”    How?   Replace thoughts focused on self with thoughts focused on God and His Kingdom.  “…AND, put away evil from your flesh…”

Lest anyone think I mean willpower, I mean “grace” acted on.  Demonstrated grace through right actions enables us to be clouds full of rain rather than rainless clouds.  It enables us to maintain integrity and even have lost integrity restored through repentance and diligent pursuit of righteousness.

We can help each other.   If we love, we seek restoration, not exposure.  If we love, we forgive rather than judge condemningly.   Our goal is peace with all and to be found “without spot or blemish.” 2 Peter 3:14.

Life is lived, and the way it ends defines its eternity.  We have the grace to live, the grace to forgive, and the grace to rebuild.  We are our brother’s keeper and cells in the body.  Life is more than what we do or who we are.  It is also the outflow to other members of the body.  Life is for living, and living is for life!  Let Jesus live His life in us, through us, and by us.  What is your life?

May the Lord bless and keep you is my prayer!

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 – ^“Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!  ⁵ You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.^”

As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was moved by several realities and spiritual directives.   In Deuteronomy 6:5, we have the command with promise about LOVING GOD.  The only acceptable love is Consuming Love.   ALL the heart, ALL the emotions, and ALL the strength.  Body, soul, and spirit are passionately devoted and submitted to God.

If we live with Consuming Love for God, we discover His purposes and benefit from His discipline.   Deuteronomy 8:3 reveals that every trial contains a revelation.   Their hunger and the manna were not only to meet a physical need but also to provide the revelation that “man does not live by bread alone, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.”    Where have we heard that?

God always gives us a choice.  Deuteronomy 11:26-28, He set before them two paths.  Always a choice!

Colossians 1 reveals that in Christ, we have access to God’s fullness, enabling us to know His will and benefit from His wisdom and knowledge.  Imagine having a database of unlimited information operating inside you!   You do in Christ!   

We are enabled to live lives that produce spiritual fruit and are continually being expanded into the full knowledge of God.  We possess divine strength, enabling us to remain steadfast, patient, and continuously filled with joy and gratitude.  We have been rescued from satanic authority and transferred into God’s kingdom, redeemed, and made whole.

We embrace the revelation that Christ in us is our hope!   IN US, through us, with us, and by us, but first and foremost, IN US!

Colossians 2 contains the complete revelation of our BLESSING in Jesus.  Everything is in and by Him. EVERYTHING!  We are rooted (planted) in Jesus and built up (developed) in Him in Faith.

In Colossians 2:14-15, we have the revelation that enables us to truly live.  All the charges of the devil about us and our failures were nailed to the Cross.  In Jesus and His sacrifice, WE ARE FREE!   We can declare the revelation of Paul in Romans 8:1 – “Therefore, there is NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”    The Cross wiped out the charges.  Our lives, past, present, and future, are HIDDEN with Christ in God.

IF we will give God our ALL, He will provide us with His ALL, and His ALL is far more than our ALL.   I surrender ALL, and in surrendering my ALL, I get His ALL.  How could we not trade our puny, limited, flawed ALL for His flawless ALL?

Today is the greatest time ever to be alive!  Let’s not waste this opportunity.   If you could trade a beat-up old Honda for a Rolls-Royce free and clear, would you?  That is a weak comparison of what we trade spiritually, but it makes the point.  God’s ALL for our ALL.

May our Love for the LORD grow exponentially daily!

Philippians 3:12-16 – “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16 Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule; let us be of the same mind.” NKJV

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was reminded of something the LORD had spoken to my heart years ago.  Always remember that you are a ‘Work in Progress,’ not the ‘Finished Product.’ There have been times when it has been quite a challenge for me personally, and in my dealings with others.  We all want perfection or completion NOW! God is a God of the NOW, but does not always do things in our NOW!

As I mused on this passage, I realized several songs filled my consciousness.   Unfortunately, some of them highlight or justify our humanness and sinfulness rather than focus on His perfection, promise, and purpose for us and in us.

Paul understood that he was not perfect, but that did not prevent him from striving for that lofty goal.  He was driven by the ambition and desire to fully apprehend and comprehend the Lord Jesus Christ in His fullness.  We would do well to adopt Paul’s manner of life and worldview.

He Acknowledged His Deficiency.   He had not arrived at the state of spiritual perfection. He knew he would make mistakes and possibly hurt others, but he kept pressing forward.

He Had a Clear Objective.   He sought spiritual perfection. He was not expecting to suddenly become perfect when he got to heaven, but to manifest Jesus now in this life on earth.

He Got His Thinking Right.   He said, “This one thing I do…”   What thing?  “I Forget those things that are behind (the past life), and I Reach for those things that are to be attained. I Press Toward the Mark.”   That’s the key – He invested everything to become what God said he was!

He Walked or Lived What He Had Learned in Christ. He encouraged others to walk fully in the level of light they had attained. We should never try to walk in the light of another, but in the level of light we have attained in Jesus. We never expect others to be exactly like us in our thoughts, beliefs, gifts, abilities, or commitments. We embrace the reality that we are individual cells within the same body, and all are needed.

None of us has arrived, but all of us can be who God has designed and desired us to be! All of us can manifest Jesus! All of us can proclaim the gospel. We can all live as overcomers and be lights shining in the darkness.

Therefore, as we go through this day and every day, let’s embrace the lessons of that day. Let’s learn from our mistakes and victories. Let’s embrace this truth – “I Can Do ALL THINGS through Christ Who strengthens me!” How many things? ALL THINGS! Nothing is impossible with God, and nothing is impossible for us as we live in Him, and He lives in us!

May your day progress to perfection!

Numbers 20:7-13 –  ^“Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ⁸ “Take the staff and assemble the community, you and Aaron your brother, and then speak to the rock before their eyes.  It will pour forth its water, and you will bring water out of the rock for them, and so you will give the community and their beasts water to drink.”   ⁹ So Moses took the staff from before the Lord, just as he commanded him.  ¹⁰ Then Moses and Aaron gathered the community together in front of the rock, and he said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” ¹¹ Then Moses raised his hand, and struck the rock twice with his staff.  And water came out abundantly.  So the community drank, and their beasts drank too.  ¹² Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to show me as holy before the Israelites, therefore you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.”  ¹³ These are the waters of Meribah, because the Israelites contended with the Lord, and his holiness was maintained among them.”

As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, a challenging reality gripped my heart.   The cost or price of disobedience!

In the Book of Numbers, we read of the almost perpetual dissatisfaction of the children of Israel.  We see the anger of God and the frustration of Moses.   They repeatedly saw the miracles of God, but quickly became dissatisfied with what they had at that moment.  Every difficulty produced complaints and a propensity to embrace the sinful practices of the pagans around them and perpetuate the idolatry of Egypt.

In Numbers 20, they wanted water, and God, as He had done before, gave Moses a direct command.  God’s commands are explicit, and obedience is to be complete and total.  In explicit obedience, we magnify God and give Him honor, and it becomes a witness that leads to surrender to Him.

In verses 8-13, Moses and Aaron gathered the nation to a particular rock.  The instruction was to take the rod (the first time he struck the rock, water came forth).   We dangerously become creatures of habit and revert to what we know rather than following God’s NOW instructions.

God told Moses to take the rod and SPEAK to the rock.  Moses let his frustration overcome him and reverted to the formula of the past.  Notice what it says, “Moses raised his hand high…”   That indicates anger and reveals that he didn’t tap the rock; he hit it with his might.  He gave himself to his anger and frustration.  “AND Struck the rock TWICE.”   Nothing in the command said strike the rock, and certainly not a repeated smiting.

Moses was disobedient, and that disobedience cost both him and Aaron entrance into the Promised Land.   Why Aaron?   Moses did it.  Aaron was silent as Moses let his anger and frustration boil over.  Aaron did not caution Moses, reminding him of the explicit instructions.  Aaron’s silence became complicity.   It’s not just what we do or say, but also what we don’t do and say.

Disobedience is costly.   We need to remember the divine absolutes that Baalam declared to Balak in Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent; has He not said, and will He not do it?  Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?” God IS.  God IS NOT like man.  God’s Word IS certain.

Paul reveals to the Ephesians and us that we were created for service (good works in Jesus), which He created beforehand, so that we could walk in them.

Obedience brings divine blessing, opens the door to settled peace, and enables us to manifest the power, love, and Spirit of Christ.  We have the weapons, the armor, and the promise to propel us into perpetual victory.  Obedience opens the door, and disobedience closes it.  It is our choice!

I pray that the Lord will help each of us walk in total obedience!

Numbers 13:33 – “There ALSO we SAW the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim), AND we BECAME like grasshoppers in our own sight (key revelation), AND so we were in their sight.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I was reminded of a precept of God’s Word that many seem to acknowledge theoretically but violate experientially.

In Numbers 13:33, that precept is visible.   The twelve spies all saw the same things.  The land was all Moses said, but ten let their focus shift from the bountiful land and God’s promise to the problems.

They said, “There ALSO we SAW the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim), AND we BECAME like grasshoppers in our own sight (key revelation), AND so we were in their sight.”

We become what we focus on.   Joshua and Caleb focused on the promise of God, the land, and the integrity of God.   They said, “Let’s go up and take the land.  Those big dudes will be bread for us.  The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

The ten focused on the obstacle and saw the size of the problem as bigger than the promise.   Two looked to God for fulfillment, knowing, “Our help comes from the LORD.”   The ten viewed fulfillment of the promise as dependent on their ability.   They became like grasshoppers in their own sight.   The result was that they began to act like grasshoppers.  The Nephilim reacted to how they acted and agreed, “You boys are mere bugs to us.”

How we see God determines how we see ourselves.

Paul expressed that in 2 Corinthians 12, as he dealt with the satanic attack.  He focused on God and trusted God’s promises.  “My grace (the grace that is in and through Jesus) is sufficient (more than enough) for you…(you need nothing more), My power is perfected (demonstrated when you realize you cannot, but He can) in weakness.”

So, be careful what you focus on.   What fills your sight, fills your heart, and transforms you.   I will look to the hills where my help comes from.  Our help is God!   We are more than conquerors in and through Jesus.

May the God of Peace and Power fill your vision and lift you into His presence with victory today!