Looking Around

In Psalm 53:2 (TNIV), David sings, "God looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God." The Message version of the Bible puts it this way: "God sticks his head out of heaven. He looks around. He's looking for someone not stupid - one man, even, God-expectant, just one God-ready woman."

Are you that one man or woman? There are more than 6,000,000,000 people in this world, but the overwhelming majority of them don't care about God, and have no interest in a relationship with Him. And so God is sticking his head out of heaven, looking around, seeing if there's anyone - even one person - who's also looking for Him.

There aren't a lot of people looking for God these days. People are looking for riches and comfort, but they're not looking for God. And so God sits at the window of heaven, looking down on earth, seeing if there's anyone among the 6,000,000,000 inhabitants here who is looking back at Him, seeking Him out, expecting Him, ready for Him.

Are you that man or woman? If you are, then there's not a lot of others out there like you. If you aren't that man or woman - yet - then start down that road today. Look up to heaven. Seek out God. Build a relationship with Him. He's waiting for you to do so. He's looking down at you. He's waiting to hear from you. He's expecting your call.

On Track

Proverbs 3:5-6 (The Message) tells us, "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He's the one who will keep you on track."

It's so easy for us to trust ourselves or our own sufficiency or our own talents more than God. Too often, we do try to figure out everything on our own, and that's exactly when we mess up and go off track, just like a train which has been derailed.

The wise man who wrote Proverbs 3:5-6, be it Solomon or someone else, knew exactly where to put his trust, and it wasn't in himself or in his own skills, or in his own intellect, or in his own understanding. He knew to put his trust in God and in His supernatural direction and guidance, knowing that He would direct our paths, keep them straight, and keep us from getting off track or derailed.

We must do precisely what the wisdom writer exhorts us to do. We must trust God more than ourselves. We must submit to Him and His will for our lives. We must listen for His voice and His guidance and His direction in everything. When we do this, then we know that He will make our paths straight, with Him directing the way for us and keeping us on track, step-by-step and day-by-day.

What Are You Looking For?

U2 has a wonderful song called "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Lyrically, it tells a story that almost all of us can relate to - how so often in life we are looking for and desiring certain things, things that we think will satisfy us, but once we get them, we find out that they aren't what we were looking for, and they do not satisfy our needs.

So what are you looking for in this life? What are you seeking in this life? What are you asking God for?

In 1 Kings 3:9 (TNIV), Solomon tells God what he is looking for. Solomon says to God, "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

Solomon was asking God for wisdom. Wisdom is what Solomon was looking for.

God blessed Solomon for his request. Asking for wisdom showed wisdom in and of itself in Solomon. God saw that Solomon wasn't asking for a lot of money, or a long life, or great honor, and so He blessed Solomon with what he requested, plus a lot more.

If you ask God for the right thing, such as wisdom, then He will give it to you. James 1:5 (TNIV) says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."

Be careful what you ask God for. Make sure that you ask him for things, such as wisdom, which can be used to honor Him and glorify Him. Think seriously about what you are looking for in your life. If it's something that is God-honoring, then He will bless you with it.

Obedience

1 Samuel 15:22 (TNIV) asks us, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?" The same verse then gives us the answer: "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."

Since Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for us and our sins on the cross, we no longer have to offer animal sacrifices or give burnt offerings. However, you still may be giving an offering to God in the form of a tithe or a service. That is fine and appropriate to do, but remember that, more than anything else, God wants obedience to Him from you. Offer to Him what you want, but He'll take obedience over it any day of the week.

You will never purchase God's delight and blessing with your offering, if you are also living a life full of disobedience. Obedience is the currency of greatest value when you're in the market for God's favor and delight in your life.

What Is Vulgar

What is vulgar in the eyes of God?

2 Samuel 6:14-23 (TNIV) gives us an idea: "Weearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart ... When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, 'How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!' David said to Michal, 'It was before the Lord ... I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.' And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."

So what was vulgar in this story? King David dancing around in his underwear, or Michal's judgmental attitude toward him? Clearly it was the latter, and God punished her for it by not allowing her to have any more children for the rest of her life.

Be careful who you judge to be vulgar. Be careful what you judge to be vulgar. Do you judge something to be vulgar just because it doesn't meet your own human, culturally-derived standards, or because it truly would be vulgar to God? More often than not, it's probably the former more than the latter.

God sees when you are judging others. God sees what you think is vulgar. And God knows your own heart, and whether the problem of vulgarity really lies within you more than within others.

Remember the words of Matthew 7:1-2 (TNIV), "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Also remember 1 Samuel 16:7 (TNIV), "The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Michal screwed up because she judged King David, and because she was focused on his outward appearance. Michal was only focused on what she saw as vulgarity, which in her own opinion was King David dancing around in his underwear. She looked at his outward appearance, and not at his heart. God looked at King David's heart, and saw in it a worship of the Lord that was as pure and joyful as could ever be. That is why King David was blessed, and that is why Michal was cursed. It's what eventually will happen to everyone who is judgmental.

Look into your own heart today. Search for any judgmentalism there. Get rid of it - right away. Focus on the hearts of others, and not their outward appearances. It will mean all the difference between whether God will bless you or not.

Alligator Arms

In Exodus 11, the Israelites are complaining. They complained a lot as Moses was trying to lead them to the Promised Land. On this occasion, they were complaining about food, or the lack of variety thereof. They were sick and tired of receiving manna from God, and wanted other meats and delicacies instead. In Exodus 11:4-6 (TNIV), it says, "... the Israelites started wailing and said, 'If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost - also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!'"

Talk about ungrateful!

So Moses brought the Israelites' menu complaints before God, and God told Moses that if it was meat that the Israelites wanted, then meat they would get - in fact, so much meat that it would come out of their nostrils and they would loathe it!

But Moses didn't understand. He thought he was going to have to go out and hunt for the meat, enough to satisfy millions of Israelites every day. He didn't understand that God was going to provide it for them.

In Exodus 11:23 (TNIV), God reminds Moses that He will provide: "Is the Lord's arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you."

I love that line by God. It's pretty comedic, actually. "Is the Lord's arm too short?" It's kind of sarcastic, really. Moses didn't think that God's arm could reach all the way down from heaven in order to give the Israelites what they wanted, and so God had to remind him that He would provide.

"Is the Lord's arm too short?" How many times have we thought that it was? How many times have we had serious doubts that God would provide whatever it was that we needed? How many times have we not thought that God ... was God? How many times have we thought that the Lord's arm was too short - to reach us and our needs?

I know that I am guilty as charged, and I'm sure that you are, too. Too often we try to rely on our own human talents, abilities, and sufficiencies, and too often we forget that God's arm is reaching down to us from heaven, ready to meet our every need, if we just ask Him, and believe that He will provide.

God's arm is never too short for us and our needs. God made alligators, but He does not have alligator arms.

Radiant

Exodus 34:29 (TNIV) tell us, "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law (the Ten Commandments) in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord."

Moses had just returned from spending some personal time with God, and his face was radiant. He was brilliant and beaming. Everyone saw it. It was very obvious to all.

Are you the same way? After you spend some quality time in the Lord's presence, through prayer or worship or Bible reading or quiet time, is there a glow to you afterward? Can people notice that you have been spending time with God?

If you worship God and follow Jesus Christ, then there should be a shine and a sparkle to you. It should be something that others can see without any difficulty at all. It should be obvious in your face, your life, your words, your works, and your deeds. The radiance of God should shine forth in you and through you and all around you.

Does it?