understanding god's timing (second lesson)

Understanding

God’s Timing

TEN THINGS GOD WON'T ASK ON THAT DAY.

TEN THINGS GOD WON'T ASK ON THAT DAY. 10. God won't ask what kind

of car you drove…but how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

9. God won't ask the square footage of your house… He will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

8. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet… He will ask how many you helped to clothe.

7. God won't ask what your highest salary was... He will ask whether you compromised your character to obtain it.

6. God won't ask what your job title was… He will ask whether you performed your job to the best of your ability.

5. God won't ask how many friends you had... He will count the people to whom you were a friend.

4. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived…He will ask how you treated your neighbors.

3. God won't ask about the color of your skin…He will ask about the content of your character.

2. God won't ask why it took you so long to seek salvation… He will lovingly take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of hell.

1. God won’t ask why it took you so long to figure out His plan… He will remember how faithfully you took each tiny step as it was revealed to you.

What is the use of praying if at the very moment of prayer, we have so little confidence in God that we are busy planning our own kind of answer to our prayer? —Thomas Merton, Catholic writer and mystic (1915-1968)

Prescription: Take ONE dose of repentance by determining to stop the unhelpful behavior or thinking.

Prescription: Follow dosage with one gallon of reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Shame is contraindicated.

Prescription:

Repeat as necessary.

Faith is confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in his power, so that even when his power does not serve my end, my confidence in him remains because of who he is. —Ravi Zacharias

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight – Proverbs 3:5-6

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declared the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9

Then they gathered around him and asked him,

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;

and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – Acts 1:6-8

The Egyptians understood full well they would spend a lot more time in the afterlife than they would spend in this life. Granted, some of their conceptions of what would happen in the afterlife were a little skewed.

But the point is, they understood to the core of their being that the afterlife was a whole lot more important than this life, and so they prepared for the afterlife during this life. God had placed eternity in their hearts.

No!

Later….

…there is a time [appointed] for every matter and purpose and for every work.

Ecclesiastes 3: 17b

Some things are proved by the unbroken uniformity of our experiences.

The law of gravitation is established by the fact that, in our experience, all bodies without exception obey it.

Now even if all the things that people prayed for happened, which they do not, this would not prove what Christians mean by the efficacy of prayer.

For prayer is request. The essence of request, as distinct from compulsion, is that it may or may not be granted. – C.S. Lewis

hematidrosis / hemohidrosis

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace.Comfort for family, protection while we sleep.We pray for healing, prosperity.We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

All the while you hear each spoken need,

Your love is way too much to give us lesser things.

’cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?

What if your healing comes through tears?What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?What if trials of this night, are Your mercies in disguise?

Blessings (Laura Story)

How should

we then

live?

For we are God's own handiwork His workmanship, recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew that we may do those good works which God predestined, planned beforehand for us,

taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.

– Ephesians 2:10

You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord Who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed.

Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you. – II Chronicles 20: 17

I pray to God—my life a prayer— and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.

– Psalm 130:5-6

People change when:• they hurt enough that they have to, • when they learn enough that they want to, and • when they receive enough that they are able to. �

– John Maxwell

I trusted in, relied on, and was confident in You, O Lord; I said, “You are my God.

My times are in Your hands.” – Psalm 31:14-15a

Understanding God’s Timing

My times are in Your hands Psalm 31:15a