Do you want more of God?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6 (NIV))

I can’t believe what I just watched!

I may make some people mad, but this sounds like a Pharisee’s teaching to me. A short video was put out by a denominational preacher and he was criticizing what is happening on many college campuses saying that it couldn’t be real because it was not his denomination. Correct me if I am wrong, but Jesus did not come to baptize people into denominations. Denominations didn’t exist until man decided to divide what Jesus came to unite! He also pointed out as another ridiculous reason that it wasn’t real was because they were not preaching from God’s true word, the King James Bible. Correct me if I am wrong, but Jesus DID NOT speak King James English! He also criticized what is happening because they were playing modern music and not hymns. Correct me if I am wrong, but at the time the hymns were created they were considered modern music. They were written to allow the people of that age to worship in song. Another criticism was that the people in attendance were not conducting themselves in a proper manner. He criticized those in attendance for being charismatic. As I recall, David danced before the Lord. He also did many things that went against the traditions of those in authority, yet he was elevated by God.

After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’
(Acts 13:22 (NIV))

Do you believe that God exists?

Do you earnestly seek the Lord?

Do you desire to please God?

Take a look back at every time that God moved in some miraculous way. Take a look at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to the believers. To quote the King James Version, God is not a respecter of persons!

For there is no respect of persons with God.
(Romans 2:11 (KJV))

God will use anyone who eagerly desires to seek Him. You do not have to be part of a certain group. He does not care if you are Jew or Gentile, male or female, young or old. All that He desires is a heart that seeks for more of Him in all aspects of your life.

Do you want more of God?

Copyright 1998 – 2023 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Who are we to judge if God does a new thing?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
(Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV))

What does this verse have to do with the following?

“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”
(Matthew 9:16-17)

I’m going to throw still one more curve ball into the mix and ask how do these two passages tie into the saying that I am sure we are all familiar with and that is, “That’s not how we do things around here!”

I heard something today that I think will tie all of these together and also satisfy a little bit of human nature in the process.

Have you ever stopped to think about why God has to do a new thing? Have you ever stopped to think about the old wineskins and new wine in a different light? Have you ever wondered why people are so set in their ways that they will say things like “That’s not how we do things?”

We are creatures of habit!

God knows this and He has let us know that He does things differently with different groups of people. He does things differently with different ages of people. If God tried to reach someone who likes contemporary music with old hymns, it would drive them away. If God tried to reach someone who is an intellectual type with a feelings based approach, it would not work. If God tried to reach someone whose heart has been hardened by using an overwhelming emotional appeal of love, that person would not be able to handle it. They have to be prepared. They have to be made new in order to handle the love that God wants to pour out.

I am going to go out on a limb and ask that we try to withhold our judgmental human nature and look at the deeper issues, look at the deeper reasons that things are different. The only thing that we should be concerned with is whether the new things are true to God and to God’s Word. We don’t need to worry about whether they are the way that we have always done things!

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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