It’s so important for us to understand what, “Waiting upon the Lord” means. Waiting on Him means, you have a request, either you’ve prayed a prayer or you’ve asked for something to take place that’s out of the ordinary. When we ask God to operate in our lives, we have to believe He will. There are several requirements, that we must meet, before God will move on our request. Of course, we first must pray to Him in Jesus name John 16:23-24. Also, we must give thanks and offer praise to God for all that He has already done for us in Christ Jesus, Hebrews 13:15. Then we must have our sins forgiven and under the blood of Jesus, John 9:31. We must let Him know our petitions, I John 5:15. Then we have to believe that we will receive what we have asked for. However, we must realize that our request must line up with God’s will. This is where waiting upon the Lord is so important. We know when we ask God for something, believing, doubting nothing, that we will receive it, Mark 11:23-24. The things we ask for must be in God’s overall plan. He will never grant us anything that will harm us or others. He knows what’s best for all. Many times, we follow God’s directions to the tee, but it seems as though He hasn’t heard a single request that we prayed. “Waiting upon the Lord” means, holding to our faith, knowing that His timing is not like our timing and He has a plan, which we are part of and He will keep His Word as long as we meet His requirements. He never stated, “I’ll give it to you the very second or minute you ask.” In His plan are trials, troubles and tribulations that are to befall His Children to test their faith. We wait patiently, hour by hour, day by day, week by week or month by month. When the timing is right, our answer will come. After we let our petitions be known to God, we must begin to praise and thank Him for the answer. True faith is believing for that, which you cannot see or hold. Praising and thanking God daily, for those answers you haven’t seen manifest, moves His hand much quicker. †
Our Faith
The Pastor addressed the congregation one Sunday morning explaining how one day he was questioning his own faith and how a few days later God spoke to his heart and explained this lesson to him. He said, “Son, your faith can only take you from where you are, to My will.” The Pastor said he thought about that for several hours and it began to sink into his thick skull. We can believe, but we can’t go beyond God’s will. Someone needs a healing, we can pray until we turn blue in the face and we can truly believe. We use our faith to get us to the line of God’s will. If it’s in His plan for that person to be healed, at that time, the person will receive their healing, but if it’s not, the person will not be healed. We hear so many people say, “God is love and He would never have His children be sick or diseased.” We agree that God is love, because the scripture states it, I John 4:8. However, God chastises those He loves, Revelation 3:19. There are times when a person has done something against God’s command or His will and He has to correct that person. This correction can come in many different ways. One, is to chasten the flesh through sickness or disease. If the sickness is chastisement, neither you, me nor a thousand Christians can pray off God’s chastisement. The person will be healed, if and when they repent and submit to God and that will happen in God’s timing, not yours or ours. The chastisement may be to get someone’s attention or to make them look to God for all their needs. It doesn’t matter the reason for the chastisement, we can pray using our faith right up to the line of God’s will, but His will shall be done. Jesus taught us in, The Lord’s Prayer, that we are to pray to God, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven”, Matthew 6:9. Sometimes sickness is placed on an individual to make people to believe in God’s healing power. In John 9:1-3, we find that a man was born blind and there was no sin involved. He had to live with this sickness for many years, but God sent Jesus by, so that God’s will could be done. God wanted the disciples to believe that Jesus was His Son, sent from heaven, so He allowed this man to suffer all those years, that His will could be done and His plan, carried out. This still happens today. There are many that do not believe in God, so God has in His plan a time and a place to convince them that there is a God and His Son died for their sins. We can’t understand God’s ways, but we have to understand that He has never made a mistake and in Romans 8:28 it states, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” We have to accept God’s Word as the final truth. It doesn’t matter what man says, it’s what the Bible states that will count when the wicked are judged or when our works are judged. Brothers and Sisters, we’re not to make excuses as to why things don’t go as we planned or as we would like for them to be. We’re to accept the fact that, as Christians, we believe that God has a plan and we’re a special part of it, so we must praise Him in the bad times, as well as, the good times. †
Our Walk With Christ
Each of us have our own walk with the Lord. Everyday, we need to look at our walk and judge ourselves, as to whether we’re pleasing God or not. Jesus set the example for us and we don’t think, while we’re in this fleshly body, that we can live up to His standards. Our duty, here on earth, as a Christian, is to live a life pleasing to God and letting the world see our light shine. In looking through the Bible, a scripture stood out to us that we felt we should share. I John 2:3-4, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” We see many people telling us they are Christians, but their lives don’t reflect a Christian walk. When Christ comes into our body, He changes us from the old man we use to be into a new creature. Our families are to see a change in us and we should be a completely new person. This scripture inspires us daily. I Corinthians 11:31-32, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” When we truly judge ourselves, we will see the faults we have and will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to repent and do better. †
Offer This Month
Our offer this month is a one hour teaching CD entitled, “When You Are Acquainted With God”. This teaching shows us in the Book of Job 22, in Eliphaz’s speech, what we need to do to get closer to God and then it teaches us the blessings we receive when we do draw closer to God. This teaching will be a blessing to you. Order your copy today! Offer # 320-G for a love gift of $12.00 or more. God Bless you!!
