Welcome to my word study. All scriptures posted will be from the NIV unless otherwise noted. <\/p>\n
Heavenly Father, Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. This is the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry, be happy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Psalm. We are not to worry about the plotting and scheming of others, God is in control and we need to trust him, be patient and wait for him to act.<\/p>\n This verse brings to mind one of my favorite scriptures: <\/p>\n For I know the plans I have for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d declares the LORD, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d God doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want us to worry. He wants us to be happy and trust him. His plan is to prosper us, bring us hope and secure our future. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Great,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we say. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now let us see the plans for this future so we can approve them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Do you know why I think God rarely lets anyone one of us see his full plan for our lives? A pastor will probably tell you it is because we have a limited ability to understand God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ways. While that is absolutely true, I believe the real reason God doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t share his plans with us is to keep us from running off willy-nilly yelling, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Not me! Not me!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Isaiah 55:8-9<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” <\/p>\n Moses wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t willing to sign up for talking to Pharaoh. Do you think he would have been \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gung-ho, gotta go\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for 40 years in the dessert? Somehow I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doubting it.<\/p>\n I mean, think about the conversation: <\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Moses, God here. Listen, I see you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made a pretty nice life for yourself down there, but I want you to chuck it all, go into Egypt and argue with Pharaoh until I get him to agree to free the Jews. Then, once the Jews are free, I want you to lead them into the dessert. On the way you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to part a sea and single-handedly destroy Pharaoh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s army.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Now, once you get out into the dessert with the Jews, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to want you to wonder around in circles for about 40 years. Oh yeah, most of the time you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out there you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have to eat the same food every single day. And during all that wandering around the Jews — slaves you freed from certain death at Pharaoh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands — are going hate you, curse you, break your heart, rebel against you \u00e2\u20ac\u201c then insist you defend them when I get ticked off and decide to fry them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One more important little thing, Moses. At your urging I am going to forgive the Jewish slaves heinous sins against my holiness; but the mistake you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to make will ban you from ever entering the Promised Land at all. So what do you say? You up for that?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know about you guys, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking that knowing God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan would have made Moses a whole lot more reluctant than he already was.<\/p>\n It is better that Moses didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know all the details. Without known pitfalls to hinder him, Moses went forward on faith \u00e2\u20ac\u201c shaky faith, but faith just the same. And his reward was a close, personal relationship with God.<\/p>\n It is better for us just to trust and obey as well. That way we each get to experience the joy of standing on our own Mount Sinai in the presence of the Lord, and we can enjoy the worship experience without worrying about golden idols and other obstacles yet to come.<\/p>\n Moses made some mistakes, but he lived his life with integrity and Godly commitment. He did not make it into the Promised Land, but he did make it into heaven. Had Moses known God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whole plan, at best he would have insisted on renegotiating some of the rougher patches; at worst he would have run away screaming, and in doing so he might have cost himself — himself.<\/p>\n We are God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s children. He strives to protect us from all things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c- even ourselves. So, while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wondering around in your own personal 40 year desert, be patient \u00e2\u20ac\u201c your turn on Mount Sanai is coming \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and a suite has been reserved for you in heaven.<\/p>\n Heavenly Father, Welcome to my word study. All scriptures posted will be from the NIV unless otherwise noted. Heavenly Father, Before I begin open my mind, Lord, to your teaching. Guide my thoughts. Send the Holy Spirit to study with me and inspire my writing so that those who come here may learn a measure of your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quilldancer.com\/meditations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Before I begin open my mind, Lord, to your teaching. Guide my thoughts. Send the Holy Spirit to study with me and inspire my writing so that those who come here may learn a measure of your truth. Help me, Father, to put what I learn here to use in my life, so that what I teach — what I profess to believe \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is what I live. I pray this in the name of Jesus, your living son, crucified, risen and coming again.
Amen
<\/span>
– – – – –<\/p>\n
Psalm 37:7 <\/span><\/p>\n
Jeremiah 29:11<\/span> <\/p>\n\n
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Hold us in your righteous right hand. Help us live our lives in obedience to you. When we are frightened, Lord, and our commitment falters, strengthen our faith. Help us live lives of integrity, so that like Moses we can lead in accordance to your will. In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"