RECIPES FOR SUCCESS WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL
Week's issue:03/02/22(Backdated)
When God appears to be in waiting for mode whilst we are running out of Patience😓😨😰😣!!
Joshua 6 Tree of Life Version First read Joshua 6:6-11 or Click to read online
REFLECTION BASED ON SCRIPTURE:
🏹It is now eight weeks since(this is being shared on the 31st of March 2022) I shared some insights from scripture about attributes of the nature of Adonai, Our Lord God Almighty. In the previous 4 parts I have tried to highlight the following:
A.Adonai, Our Lord God(Adonai) provides us with various clues within Scriptures that indicate to us the events recorded were carefully orchestrated by Him.
B.There are essential patterns Adonai reveals through scripture about how He operates and these are IDENTIFIABLE through personal devotion and Scripture Study.
C.A key identifiable pattern is that Adonai has maintained consistent collaboration with chosen human vessels to impact human affairs.
D.We need to follow a consistent habit of Scriptural devotion and study to discover more about the attributes of Adonai(To know Him)
E.A secondary Quest for our Study must be to DISCOVER His Patterns of Operating in human affairs(To understand His ways).
F.Thirdly we must discover His chosen path for our individual lives(Know our unique purpose).
G.Eventually we must find FULFILLMENT (Kindly click here, to read Psalm 23:3 Please) by pursuing Adonai on a daily basis and we do so through following the Pathway He has orchestrated for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 is a complimentary verse((Kindly click here to read Jer 29:11 in the TLV Please).
Refer to our Scripture verses in Joshua 6 Tree of Life Version First read Joshua 6:6-11 or Click to read online
The verse above highlights the journey of the Israelites after six days of waiting. There were about three million of them, immigrants now poised to enter their inheritance: the land of Canaan! At the time those inspired words from Adonai were delivered to them, the Israelites were at the outskirts of the land Adonai had promised them! Yet in Chapter 6, He reassured them that it was already theirs.
After they had trekked through the Sinai desert, they were still far from the Negev desert within the promised Land! So those words from the above verses you have just read, if not received in faith may have sounded rather hollow!
ADONAI EMPATHISED WITH THEIR WEAKNESS
Adonai, our All-wise God knew that at that stage they were weary. He empathized with their weariness! He knew that their faith required boosting. After having left Shittim on one side of river Jordan, they proceeded through to the other side of the river Jordan: Therefore to boost their faith Adonai, SUPERNATURALLY enabled them to cross by making a way through the Jordan, at a time when it was in flood stage.
Sometimes Adonai in His wisdom 'PRESCRIBES' for us a seasonal miraculous intervention as a FAITH BOOSTER EVENT in our lives! Especially when our morale is low. The Israelites must have experienced such a boost to their morale(Emotional Impact) and an encouragement to their Faith(Spiritual Impact) during this period of waiting between two major MIRACULOUS INTERVENTIONS!
ADONAI HAS A VISION OF IMPACTING SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS TOO
We learn another important attribute of Adonai in addition to His 'Empathy': His 'thoughtfulness' which extends beyond our family in the present generation. He plans for subsequent generations and for posterity. This is a recurring theme in scripture. God's purposes extend beyond the present into the future and beyond. He has eternity in mind. Please click to read about God's faithfulness in Deuteronomy 7:9 TLV)
Adonai was thoughtful in providing the Israelites and future generations of believers including from the 21st Century with an opportunity to reflect on His nature and His Power! So He outlines a plan in the late 15th Century BCE.(during the Bronze Age) which is still relevant to believers in the 21st century Digital Age. If my estimation is close enough, this is about 3000 years later!
A SEASON OF WAITING
In my previous reflection, I described a season of waiting as any period between a present dissatisfied phase and our desired, expected, or dream fulfillment phase in the will of God. By the will of God, I am referring to the fulfillment of the Purposes and Plan of God for our lives. So my assumption is that individuals reading this primarily aspire to be in God's destiny for their lives.💜
Over the last few reflections, I have used similar scenarios to highlight what waiting can mean to us individually. Because of our unique individual responses to circumstances, we may not all identify with the following examples:
Perhaps you have wondered why you have remained a Single Christian, although your own desire and prayer have been and still is to be married? Perhaps you have even turned down offers of marriage from others not sharing in your faith and commitment!! Meanwhile, God does not appear to have come through for you yet!
Perhaps you know of a Christian turning down a lucrative job opportunity that requires working on all weekend days of worship in the month. Yet in spite of significant sacrifices that even involved placing God's purposes ahead of their own, they continue to endure an extended season of waiting! Perhaps as a Christian business person, you have abided by highly ethical principles, meanwhile, your contemporaries who have been unethical appear to be excelling more in business!
I shall also highlight something I have done in previous Issues: if some or all of the above scenarios apply to your personal situation or someone you know, then you are possibly experiencing less than your personal ideal living situation! Many of us can identify with being in a season of waiting at one stage or another! This usually applies to nearly all of us, with very few exceptions! Because we are all a work in progress in the hands of Elohim.
In the previous issue eight weeks ago I highlighted the fact that I have identified 8 phases within any waiting season. This is gleaned through the scriptural patterns of God's dealing with the nation of Israel. I have already stated my belief that these phases have a practical life relevance for many of us. Learning to exercise patience during the phases of waiting in our journey of faith is ESSENTIAL to the fulfillment of God-given promises.
RECAP:PARTS 1,2,3
In Part 3 of this series, I discussed Phase 1,2,3 of our season of waiting! Phase 1 is characterized by the darkness of uncertainty and unexplained events within our lives! Our lives essentially are scenarios of chaos and darkness until Adonai brings Divine Order into it? Life at this stage is characterized by unfavorable but unexplained events! An extended season of waiting which is testimony to the fact that a work of Restoration to divine Order is either required or in process within our lives! Please click on to Philippians 2:13-15 for illustration
PHASES 4,5,AND 6
In my previous issue Part 4, I began discussing the significance of individual days 4,5,6 when the Israelites encircled the walls of Jericho. In this issue, I discuss Phase 6 in even more detail.
The number 4 refers to the phase of divine revelation. Revelation from God's presence is symbolized by 'eyes' in Revelation 4:6-8 TLV . Please click on this link Genesis 1:14-19. Phase 4 in our waiting season illustrates how God uses seemingly insignificant situations within our lives including our unmet needs to reveal His unique plan for our lives. In summary Phase 4 is an event or a process involving divine initiative to enable individual discovery of Adonai's plan in that individual's life.
Phase 5:When we respond to Adonai's initiative by carrying out His corresponding instructions that accompany His revelation to us individually, we attain results that impact others other than ourselves: This is what we do in Phase 5 of our waiting season. Some never get there, because they are stuck in the mountaintop afterglow experience of the last personal revelation they received.
This discovery is in the form of a directional word that we received. It is set within the confines of the written word of God(Does not contradict the logos and is not weird or outlandish). Always wise to submit it for testing just as Joshua did after he heard from the LordJoshua 1:1-9. Joshua believed the word and was prepared to obey and yet he sought confirmation by secretly sending two spies to survey the land and they returned with the confirmation he needed Joshua 2 TLV
PHASE 6:The number 6 can be attributed to the attainment of our full physical and emotional maturity as informed by a sensory perception of one's natural environment. What precedes that is a period of seasonal growth which is common to all of God's creation: both humankind, beasts, and plants
Humankind understudies divinely instituted mentors from childhood to Adulthood, who are instrumental in enabling our transition into adulthood and roles of responsibility. We all have a sphere of dominion or influence that is divinely assigned to us in our lifetime. This is unique to us as individuals and no one is designed to replace us!
OUR ABILITY TO CHOOSE IS SACRED AND NEEDS TO BE UPHELD AS SACROSANCT!
Humankind as a species is created in the image of God with a mandate to have dominion, This mandate is entrenched within our HUMAN WILL which is our Godgiven ability to carry out this mandate.
Everything that has been accomplished within any field of human endeavor has required an exercise of and the UNLEASHING OF THE CREATOR ENDOWED POTENTIAL WITHIN THE HUMAN WILL
The phase of attainment of maturity is associated with a TEST. This is the assessment of eligibility to exercise the RESPONSIBILITY associated with exercising dominion within our individual spheres of influence. Before we begin OPERATING within our sphere of dominion we undergo this OBLIGATORY assessment to determine how we intend to exercise our dominion. The test is two-dimensional: On the one hand, it forms the basis for our adversary attempting to draw us away from the Pathway God has designed for us. But it also presents us with an opportunity to exercise our will in surrender and submission to the wisdom and direction of the Spirit of God.
Temptation:
What does this temptation consist of. It is a constant draw between either following the order of the beast or the order or pattern of God. In the order of the beast, BRUTE force overrides the will of another and imposes the choices of another/others on individuals. This is often done through deception.
The order of God relies on the hidden yet untapped resources within God's Presence and His power! This is subsequently applied in meeting human needs! Whenever this has Happened the Presence, Power, and Provision of Adonai is in manifestation.
When Moses also reached maturity as a man he faced the temptation of carrying out the purposes of God in his own strength. Click to read Exodus 2:11-20 about Moses during his escape from the threat of death in Egypt. It was also the start of a 40-year waiting season in his life.
Most of the world including the Canaanites who relied on the sealed City of Jericho and its wall for their security was operating in a developed level of human expertise. They had attained the time of the Bronze Age, at about 1400 BC. The fortification provided by the Jericho wall provided the Canaanites with a false sense of security that was soon unraveled, on seventh time, on the Seventh-day that the Israelites encircled the wall of Jericho. They overcame the status symbol of 'Canaanite security' after obeying Adonai's instructions!
It did not occur as a result of any military strategy or human expertise! Lessons learnt no doubt!,
Adonai is our Omnipotent creator God.The walls had to collapse when He said they would!
We will continue next time with Phases 7,8,9
In conclusion,
Even when it has not been so obvious, to human thinking or logic Adonai, our Lord has certainly been at work in our lives! By observing the Spiritual exercise of 'WAITING' and 'PAUSING' to reflect on Adonai's ACTS and the EVENTS in our lives we can gain insights into this aspect of the nature of Adonai.
This applies to us in all sorts of individual circumstances we may be facing including on occasions when we are in the dark of Adonai's plans about an aspect of our life?
Meditation is when those insights are cross-checked with information we recall in memory to determine if they are consistent with how He is revealed in other portions of scripture.
If whilst reading this you feel the strengthening tug of God's conviction at your heartstrings please stop reading for a moment and relinquish it all to the Lord.
We can ask His will specific to our individual calling in life. His plan for us, as well as His pathway, was outlined to lead us into His uniquely designated Plan for our lives.
If we have asked Him to reveal His will to us then we need to use scripture as our guidance checklist or benchmark in order to determine whether we are on track. Please click on this reference to undergo the 'James test' for obtaining wisdom from God James 1:2-6
Alternatively, join in this prayer of Consecration. Please let this be your reconnecting to Yeshua, the anointed one, to Christ;
' Heavenly Father I give to you all that I am and all that I have the best way I know-how. Please take what I give to you and use it to the glory and praise of your holy name, Ame
God bless you
John
Ps. Please feel free to comment below using the designated section or to send me an email at jpndad@googlemail.com
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