Know the future?

 

READ Acts 21-24

The popularity of astrology, fortune-telling, even the media pundits who try to predict the outcome of sporting events and political elections reveal that human desire to know the future. Those who presume to be wiser say that if we did, we would try to change it and likely mess it up. The fact of the matter? If God or anyone else revealed the future and we could change it, it would be a false revelation.

The Apostle Paul must have known this. When he was told his future by someone who claimed the information came from God, Paul realized if he changed it, then God would be telling him something that would not happen and God does not do that!

And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done.” (Acts 21:11–14)

This incident reminds me of a time we were going to move to a certain city. We were told of a house we could rent and the Lord assured me that this would be our new home. Then we were told it had already been rented. Yet I knew we would live in it. After a few days, the lease fell through and the house was ours. I’d had no doubt that it would be; God is not a false prophet and I knew my assurance was not presumption. Even if I should hear from Him that negative things are ahead, like the disciples heard what would happen to Paul, my attitude should be, Let the will of the Lord be done!

Paul teaches me another thing; how he knew what to do when under threat from the Jewish religious leaders. He was not in the dark regarding what they believed and used it to redirect their focus from destroying him. They wound up arguing within their ranks:

Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial.” And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (Acts 23:6–7)

In our day, persecution sometimes comes from groups that call themselves Christian but they are false teachers, either cults or with beliefs that do not come from the Scriptures or the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit. While it is seldom wise to study the ideas of false teachers, as I encounter them do I know enough about what they believe to redirect any attack they might be making against my faith? Or do I naively suppose they are ‘different but okay’? Tearing a page from Paul’s example, it is wise to understand enough that I can defend what God says even if it requires creating a diversion.

A third instruction from this passage relates to the first one. God did reveal to the dangers of going ahead as he was instructed. He would suffer at the hands of Gentiles, even more, but he was not afraid of the will of God, nor of dying. Besides, God also told him some good news:

The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.” (Acts 23:11)

Yes, he would be persecuted and this did happen, but the Lord reassured him that he would also take the Gospel where he’d hoped to take it. Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” (Acts 19:21)

That desire of his heart was not mere ambition; it was the directing power of God. This tells me to pay attention. My assignments will not have the same importance as his, yet if God tells me what to expect and even if it is negative, I can be confident that He will stand by me no matter what happens.

 

Life is a Puzzle . . . ?

 

 

READ Matthew 1-4

This illustration has been used before, but these days I’m more aware than ever that life is a jigsaw puzzle. How do all the bits and pieces fit together? Some of it, even lots of it seems random and without purpose.

Yet, when reading Genesis, especially the life of Joseph, it seems important to look at the big picture, the highlights. The Bible does not record anyone’s story with “He got up, washed and got dressed” but instead tells only what is necessary to see the hand of God. For instance, the events recorded about Abraham’s life were sometimes decades apart. Where do I get the idea that every little event should include something significant? I rather suspect it is a selfish desire to be more important than I am?

Today, the Holy Spirit stopped me in the middle of Joseph’s genealogy with these words: “And Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph . . . .:” (Matthew 1:6–7)

David’s huge sin of taking another man’s life and his wife put their son and successive generations in the lineage of the Messiah. God used David’s outrageous flub-up for His purposes. Have I ever supposed that God can or is using the sins I commit for His purposes? That is totally humbling. I’d much rather see Him using success but realize He is God and I am just a bunch of puzzle pieces.

More evidence of God’s thinking is where Jesus was born. We hear the pastor’s preach that it wasn’t in a palace or a notable place. Yet this little town has some history. It is David’s birthplace, meaningful because the Messiah was to be from David’s family tree: “And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” (Matthew 2:6)

God knows my history. He wove the history concerning David and Jesus and He is weaving mine. I cannot see it because I’m still in it. The history in the Bible yells at me to stop being anxious about putting the puzzle together. By God’s design I cannot see the picture on the box and need to leave it to Him.

The details will be taken care of as well. The Magi could have naively reported Jesus’ location to the king who wanted Him dead, but they were “warned in a dream not to return to Herod (and) they departed to their own country by another way.” (Matthew 2:12) God put the pieces together to protect the life of this child who would be the Savior of the world. He sent away the Magi then sent this little family on a trip.

After their ‘vacation’ in Egypt, Joseph and Mary returned but when Joseph “heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2:22–23)

This was a nothing city, less than 500 population and never mentioned by anyone prior to the NT. Human thinking would put Jesus is a place where He could be significant, but the NT says He was not received by those in that small place where everyone would know Him and His parents. Yet God put Him there. How do I know what is important to God?

Chapter 4 begins with Jesus’ temptation. I’m not even significant, yet the enemy harps at me often, mostly to make me stop praying. Surely God does not want the devil to harass me but the Bible says, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1) What do I know?

The Father planned that His Son should be tested. This temptation is complex in some ways but from my point of view, the enemy is trying to get Jesus to focus on daily necessities, protection, and power. It is easy to think that I would never ask the devil to feed me, protect me, or empower me, but if I am not focusing on God, who am I trusting? The world, the flesh (my old nature, myself) and the devil? Jesus never took His Father’s care for granted. His responses pointed to the Master Puzzle Maker.

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 

“Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

And “from that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ” (Matthew 4:17) His focus never strayed.

OBEY. This says: know God’s Word, trust His promises, worship and serve Him, and repent for all those times that I think I need to make sense of what He is doing with all my bits and pieces instead of just trusting Him.