GOD SPEAKS

Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. Psalms 119:133

You and I know nothing! You may say that you are well-qualified, educated, and may argue that you are having much knowledge of this world.  But I can say that you know nothing! If you have enough knowledge, why do most of your decisions fail? Why are you not so successful though you use your entire mind and start many things out of your mind? Do not you think your knowledge and experience of this world is nothing before the Lord?

Do not make your own steps in your life, because they may harm you. It could be your marriage, business or anything. Many steps we make are of our own will. We assume the best results thereof would come. But soon after, we realize that there are ready made problems waiting for us to face to proceed further. This happens because we use our own mind to make decisions and devise many things. The Bible says- Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6-7.  You and I cannot see the consequences of ever single step we make in the life though they appear small in our consideration. Has not the Lord given us good hearts that can reason well or minds to make our own decisions? If yes, why the Lord say- lean not unto thine own understanding? Why do God say- In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths?

Read the following verse from the Bible: Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. Judges 11:29-31. Was not the Spirit of the Lord with Jephthah? Then why did he make such a vow or decision? How could he make such a step? This is what the flaw of our mind. Though you may feel I have enough strength or say that the Lord is with me, if you do not consult Him for his guidance this shall repeat even in our lives? Do not believe in your strength or in your mind. We know nothing. Seek the Lord to guide you in every step (decision) you make. Ask Him to order your steps. Let the word of God to be the light to your feet. Let the word of God lead you in the right way.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned : but what sayest thou ? John 8:3-5

Before you judge others, bear in mind whether you have:

1. Worthiness to judge.
2. Complete knowledge of the law (or Word of God) or some standards against which you may say someone or something is right or wrong. Judging is an act to form or give an opinion about someone or something after thinking carefully about the all information you know about them.

The scribes and Pharisees came to punish the woman found in adultery.

1. They may have to some extent knowledge of the word of God, but not understood it completely. This is the reason –He said in another context: “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.” Matt 12:7.

Here the 2^nd condition to judge the woman found in adultery is not fulfilled.

2.   No man on this earth is holy except the Lord Jesus. Mortal man cannot be a complete man and have worthiness to judge other man. Worthiness is with the LAMB OF GOD. Here an unworthy-man cannot judge another unworthy-man.

Here the 1^st condition to act as a judge is not satisfied. This is the reason Jesus said unto the scribes and Pharisees: He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. John 8:7

Remember always You and I are unworthy to judge others. Further, understand that the Lord is the judge as it is written:

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Acts 10:42.

And he said to them, “Cast the net on the right hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. John 21:6.

Seek His guidance about every matter, though it seems insignificant, in your life. It is important because we make lot of mistakes thinking we know how to deal with them. Actually, this does not happen. Your previous experience may not be sufficient for the present problem or your speculation about them does not go always right. This is because our capability of understanding is limited.

Jesus said to his disciples to cast their net on the right side of the boat. We know his disciples were fishermen. A fisherman knows better how to catch fish. A fisherman knows better when and where he can catch fish. We know that disciples could not catch fish that night. It is written- “…and that night they caught nothing. John 21:3”. They were not successful in catching fish that night. Did not they have previous experience to catch fish?  Or was it a new sea( new place for catching fish) to them? Then why could not they succeed? There might be many reasons for it. Our concern is only to know whether our previous experience or knowledge guarantees our success. In this context, it is important to seek the Lord’s guidance on every minor matter. What is wrong if you consult Jesus and step into it?  In fact, you will see His guidance on all you do.

Further, never question his direction.  “…For wisdom and might are his- Daniel 2:20”. Just follow it without doubt and questions. If you question his direction, you may not succeed. Never doubt His guidance. Read this verse- Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years.” The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” Luke 1:18-20. God servant Zacharias was visited. God had sent his angel to tell his words concerning the birth of Prophet John the Baptist. However, Zacharias said to the angel, “How will I know this for certain? You and I know what happened to Zacharias and how he remained mute until the birth of Prophet John taken place. Therefore, never question his direction. Just do what He says though you have not understood it.

His disciples just followed his direction. They did not question his guidance nor speak adverse words. See, how they caught great number of fish. So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.  This tells us how we should seek His guidance and follow them without questioning. Remember that the Lord’s guidance is always better than your previous experience or knowledge. Seek His guidance about everything you do.

Most of the times, after being deceived we blame others’ role. Further, we never try to recognize our flaw in this process. From the day of Adam to till date, this is what is happening. People are being deceived by the deceiver and not recognizing where actually they have fallen into his trap.

Let us see various stages of you being deceived by the deceiver:

Stage (1): In your contacts:  If you are with Him, the deceiver cannot approach you. As you do not do well, sin lies at the door. It shall have a desire to be with you. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you”. James4:8.  Remember the Satan came to Adam and Eve when the God was not with Him.

Further, you may see the deceiver came to Eve when she was alone. Devil had easy contact to deceive her as she was away from her God and husband. This contact made her to disobey the command of God and was deceived. Therefore, have fellowships with the children of God as it is written in the Bible- “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20”. You see the God’s presence and the devil cannot approach you to tempt and deceive you.

Stage(2) Listening: Though we have no fault with us to be blamed and tempted by the deceiver, he may still come to us to deceive us. At this stage, he may come and start his conversation. He starts his conversation with his direct words and sometimes with his evil thoughts. Let us see, how this happens: Example : And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden ?Genesis 3:1 If you give him an opportunity and listen to him, He creates doubts. You may see all his words resemble the words of God, but makes you to misunderstand it. Thereby, you will be deceived to do sin. Exactly he did it in the case of Eve. He repeated all the words of God with an intention to confuse and misled Eve to deception.

Also, you may see how the deceiver provokes David and he heard it –“And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number  Israel.1 Chronicles 21:1” He plays with your mind to see that all you have had from your own strength ( people call it now a days- self confidence) but not on Him that gave you all.

If you are a strong believer, you will notice the difference between the voice of the deceiver and the Lord. As it is written in the Bible, And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him : for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him ; for they know not the voice of strangers John 10:4-5.” You will flee from the deceiver as soon as you listen to the voice of the deceiver. Otherwise, you will be attracted to it and start conversing with him, as Eve did, to be deceived.

Stage (3) Understanding: Even after you have listened to his words, still there is a way for you not to be deceived. See-“Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan : for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Matthew 4:10.” The devil referred the words from the Bible to confuse the Lord Jesus who himself is the Word of God. Here, you see the devil using the false teachers to deceive us. You and I cannot stop them. But your understanding or meditation of the word of God daily can stop the deception. Ask Him to open your eyes to see the great things from the word as you and I can see it only when He opens it. In this regard, you may refer to Luke 24:45 wherein he opened their eyes to understand it better.

Stage (4) Talking back to the deceiver:    From the two verses Genesis 3:1-2, Matthew 4:10, You may see that the mere giving answers from your mind cannot defeat the deceiver as you know he is more subtil (Genesis 3:1) than us. You and I will be deceived easily unless you reply to him with the Word of God as Our Lord Jesus did reply the Satan when He was being tempted.

Stage(5) Acting upon it:  Though you speak the word of God, the deceiver may not leave us to tempt and deceive us. Therefore, resist the devil so that he will flee from you. Submit yourselves therefore to God. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. James 4:7”. Resist the devil or deceiver with word of God, with the armor of God ( Ephesians 6:13) and command him to flee from you in the name of Jesus.

You see from the verse –“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever Revelation 20:10 “.Do not let the deceiver take you with him to be thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstones.

Therefore, you –

(a) Be near to Him and have fellowship with the believers

(b) Know the difference between the voice of the Lord and the deceiver

(c) Mediate the word of God daily to understand it better to avoid deception

(d) Have the word of God and

(e) Resist the devil with armor of God to make him flee from you to avoid deception.

But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. John 21: 4.

Are you chosen by God for a purpose? Most of us know that they are chosen by the Lord. Also, they know that they are gifted with special talents by the Lord. Are you among them? If so, and still if you choose a way which is not in the will of the Lord, you will find nothing. Learn to know the will of the Lord in all your activities whether it is a big task or a small task. See that all you do is in the will of the Lord. 

Disciples knew that the Lord had chosen them for preaching the gospel to the world. But, they had returned to fishing. Why?  The things around us may seem to be not in favor to us, by we need to learn to wait. Most of the times, we do not wait for sometime thinking that we are wasting our time. But we need to know that the Lord is doing his will and making you ready during this time. Read this verse- And being assembled together with then, command them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. Acts 1:4. Why do they need to wait for the promise? Cannot God grant this promise immediately?  For everything, God has a plan. Sometimes, you and I need to wait. Waiting does not mean that we are wasting the time but knowing the Lord is preparing you for His work. He that has given his gifts or talents cannot hide them under a bushel!

Further, if you still choose to do your own will during this time of waiting, this may pull down your spiritual status. Look at the disciples. They had spent more than three and half years with him. They were with him all the time. But why could not they recognize his voice and him? Why did not they respond to him when he had asked him- children, have you any meat?  They answered him, No. John 21:5. Whom they answered? Was it not the Lord? But the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Why all of them did not recognize him or his voice?  This could tell us when you go away from the will of the Lord; it might happen that you might not recognize him, and the actual will of the Lord. Your spiritual eyes and ears may get locked up.  They saw him but not recognized. They heard him but not recognized. How and why? This is how your own-will during this waiting period will pull down your spiritual status. Never dare to choose a way which is not of the Lord. Never let your spiritual status come down. Learn to wait for the Lord though it seems difficult. Remember always that everything is in control of Him.