The Christian Way of Living Part 3
The Christian Way of Living Part 3.
CWLiving.org
Cliff Spier
[^]
Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics.
What does God want from us?
What’s God’s will?
[^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and
[2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer].
[^] God’s will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs
How to grow in the grace and knowledge of TLJC – Master the CWLiving fundamentals
Recall
Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper you.
That is His love’s motivation.
And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing
When you do these things then
God’s +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you.
When you don’t or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow).
Sooooo,
Faith in God – believe in God = 1) Divine Essence
How? Learn, Think, Motive, Act
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Learn – God’s Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE)
- God’s Promises
Think – How God thinks … L => R & J
Motive - Do follow God’s CMDs
Act - to use Rebound … & Diligently use F/R Drill
Learn – Think – Motive – Act (PMA of BD, Op Z)
Along with Faith … Trust God – Trust in someone greater than you
Benefits of:
-Faith in God
-Trust God
-Diligently use F/R
= RMA (precious) … contentment in Life – in your mind
- in your Home life
- at work
- at play
Home, work, play and in your soul – God provides a RMA
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2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours [bel in JC], by the integrity [+R + J] of our God [deity] and Savior [humanity], Jesus Christ:
2 Peter 1:2 Grace and [mental] prosperity [RMA] be multiplied to you by means of the [epignosis] knowledge of God[/F] and of Jesus our Lord;
2 Peter 1:3 [how? ->] seeing that His divine power [Omnipotence] has graciously been given to us everything pertaining to this [natural] life [logistical grace support] and spiritual life [CWLiving], through the epignosis knowledge [metabolized BD applied experientially] of Him [TLJC] who called [common grace] us by His own glory and virtue.
2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines - Rebound, Faith Rest, God’s Divine
Essence and how it works] God/F has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises [1Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psm 91, etc], in order that by them [metabolized and applied BD] you might become partakers of the divine nature [God’s Thinking, specifically the CWLiving], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [cosmic & human thinking; OSN lifestyle].
Precious and magnificent promises … Gods description
1 Peter 5:7 -> Psm 55:22
Prov 3:5-6
Lam 3:25
Matt 7:11
Psm 91 (picture)
+ Recompence of the wicked
I gave you 3 refrigerator bumper stickers
[^] #1
Confused which way to go?
Claim a promise(s) of God
Then make the best decision you can
and if God does not want you to go in that direction,
he will close the door.
If you are receptive to closed doors,
then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction.
In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best.
Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using
the F/R procedure and as long as you do and
are remaining calm about it
then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or
the result of the decision will be a closed door.
Then you know to go in a different direction.
[^] #2
Problems come in two flavors;
1 - the ones we created by bad decisions
(which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and
external (ramifications to others)) and
2 - problems others created and put on us
(these can be circumstances of life or
overt decisions made by others
that cause you problems,
including ‘natural disasters’ such as Mt Saint Helen’s,
floods, war, pandemics, etc. )
[^] #3
Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems,
God has a solution to them.
His solution is to use what you know from the bible
to make decisions (based upon your best judgment – at the moment)
and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed
in spite of the pressure,
and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise.
Bottom line –
Learn – God’s Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE)
- God’s Promises
Think – How God thinks … L => R & J
Motive - Follow God’s CMDs (courage to …)
Act - Rebound when necessary … & Diligently use F/R Drill
=> the process of Trust => learning to & Loving God
----------- End Summary -----------
The next thing I want to study is -
Confidence in God and some F/R scriptures
We are to have confidence in God -
(Faith Rest, God’s Divine Essence & the Plan of God)
Crunch -
Fear – two types: circumstances and reaping what you sow.
[^] #2
Problems (not fear) come in two flavors;
1 - the ones we created by bad decisions
(which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and
external (ramifications to others)) and
2 - problems others created and put on us
(these can be circumstances of life or
overt decisions made by others
that cause you problems,
including ‘natural disasters’ such as Mt Saint Helen’s,
floods, war, pandemics, etc. )
Then I said ….
… It matters not….
So we Rebound … Diligently ….
I think a thing to remember about the Faith Rest procedure is that
it is our way to tap into and utilize God’s power.
What do I mean by that?
Back to the Driving in Weather example.
God handles our concern (worry, anxiety, fear) about driving in the weather (in that example) using His Omnipotence or His Omniscience
(He knew you were going to ask Him so he ‘arranged’ for better driving circumstances).
Therefore we can tap into that power by claiming promises.
Once you know more and more promises and then use them
– promises do nothing unless they are Learned, Thought about, and you have the Motivation to use them and then Act (using the F/R procedure) –
… then you are tapping into God’s power.
That power can be physical power
(like improving the driving conditions (control of the weather) or
it can be giving you confidence (via your RMA) and recalling driving techniques.
Either way you have utilized God’s power.
And that plus the fact that you Trust God is what allows you to tap into God’s power.
Again, God is not a genie and you do not get 3 wishes.
This is an honest, sincere use of the Faith Rest procedure and
learning and using God’s Divine Essence.
We are to have humility in approaching God and asking for His help.
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Remember Matthew 7:11:
Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about
parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God],
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
God is motivated to help you (in accordance with 1 Tim 2:4)
but in doing so His motivation is giving you confidence so
that you develop a more mature capacity to handle things in life.
i.e. Make you a stronger person.
Confident is how I usually think about it.
He helps us grow up and become more confident.
Yes we ‘lean’ on Him but His plan is for you to grow more confident and
in doing so, you will handle your own problems,
using the Trust and knowledge you have of God and His plan for you.
We all need to grow up in certain areas of our life and
God leads us down a path to grow up.
Why does God do this?
First, so that you are a relaxed, confident and happy person.
And people will notice that.
Second, so you can be used by Him in executing His Plan for your life and you will have an impact on the lives of people around you and
in your nation.
Additionally, it is an honor to be used by God,
something to be proud of.
Something else, as you use the skills in the CWLiving (for now Rebound
and the F/R procedure), you should along with your trusting God, you
should develop an awe and respect of God.
The ability to use His power, and
the fact that you and I, have the privilege to know God and
to use His promises, doctrines and thinking.
We should always thank God in prayer for being able to do that.
That is something you have available to you that unbelievers do not.
Anytime and every time God comes through for you when you claim a
promise,
is proof of His faithfulness and that what He says is True.
Again back to His Divine Essence, Veracity – God is truthful;
And Immutable – God never changes.
His promises and His ability to come through for you are ironclad
backed by an Omnipotent, Sovereign and Just God.
Utilizing His resources moves you along your journey of having a personal relationship with Him.
<>
I hope this gives you confidence to believe, trust and have faith in God and
what He says. Here is another verse that is helpful.
[^[
Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'
Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] “Do not fear for I am with you,”
Who is with you? God.
He never leaves you, even though you may leave Him,
and then He says “do not anxiously look about you,”
don’t panic or look around for human solutions,
don’t ask your friends for their opinions,
don’t look at your circumstances with anxiety,
look at your problems with a different perspective,
remember to look to God and His solutions. His solutions.
What solutions? Rebound, Faith Rest procedure,
understanding His Divine Essence.
Notice: When (not if) When you are anxious or fearful you claim a verse like this or
1 Peter 5:7 or any other pertinent verse and
know God & His Omnipotence can handle anything.
God’s Omnipresence knows everything,
and in using God’s solution of the Faith Rest procedure then
God’s Righteousness is satisfied so His Justice executes what His Love wants for you in this circumstance.
So what happens next?
“for I am your God,” and then look what else,
“I will strengthen you,” we are weak, fear weakens us,
in fact we are at our weakest when we are afraid and anxious.
But what does He say, “I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,”.
When all help is gone and you are at the end of your human strength,
there God is, that's what you got left, God’s strength.
So why not call on Him first?
Then God goes on to say, “surely I will uphold you,”
we won't sink into the mire (of bad decisions or bad circumstances),
he holds us up, “with my righteous right hand.”
Your fear and anxiety melts away,
that is how you handle situations in life.
You call upon God’s power to help you and you know He will. Trust.
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>
The Red Sea Incident
Turn to Ex 13:17
This is one of my favorite passages in the Hebrew scripture
to illustrate Trust, Patience and Timing.
It is Moses at the Red Sea.
Short synopsis: Jews were slaves in Egypt for 400 yrs then
God brought Moses in to free them from Egypt and
start a new nation in their own land.
Pharaoh lets them leave Egypt and
after several days he changes his mind and
sends his chariot army to retrieve the Jews.
The Jews became caught with their backs to the Red Sea and
Pharaoh’s army quickly approaching.
The Jews started to panic.
They were yelling at Moses about what to do....
Bottom line up front:
Moses had no idea how God would save the Jews when
they were at the Red Sea with the Egyptian army steadily advancing
on them with their army of chariots.
They were minutes from death but Moses did not panic because he Trusted God and His promises.
What promise? God told Moses that he would lead Israel out of Egypt and to a land that I will show you.
Exodus 3:10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt."
So Moses believed and followed God’s command - he was Motivated to Act
Cccccccccccccc ccccccccccc cccccccccccc
The story begins in the Book of Exodus chapter 13 & 14.
We pick it up at Ex 13:17 at the point when the Pharaoh of Egypt (i.e. the King or President of Egypt)
decided to let the Jews, called the Sons of Israel, go and released them to
leave Egypt. Up to this point in time the Jews, all of them, were slaves of
the Egyptians.
Exodus 13:17 ¶ Now it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go
[out of slavery in Egypt], that God did not lead them by the way of the
land of the Philistines, even though it was near [closer]; for God said,
"Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they
return to Egypt."
Exodus 13:18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the
wilderness [desert] to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in
martial array [marching columns] from the land of Egypt.
Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he
[Joseph] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God
shall surely take care of you; and you shall carry my bones from here
with you." [there is a story also about the bones of Joseph we can
cover later]
Exodus 13:20 Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on
the edge of the wilderness [desert].
Exodus 13:21 And the Lord [this is the visible presence of Jesus Christ]
was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the
way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might
travel by day and by night.
Exodus 13:22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the
pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
So you have the Jews leaving Egypt
(now they all were not in just one area),
they mainly were in Goshen (see the map below) [^]
but also in various other parts,
so when they all got the word they headed out from Goshen and the
surrounding areas to Succoth.
Succoth was an area where there are mines of cooper and turquoise and Jews were enslaved their as workers.
So those Jews headed out with Moses and they met up with other Jews and
eventually the slaves that we around Succoth.
Once all the Jews had gathered, Moses led them from Succoth and they eventually they camped at Etham.
How did the Jews know where to go? Verse 21 says the TLJC who showed himself as a visible pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
So the Jews all saw this and they follow it to gather up with Moses as the main body of Jews coming out of Goshen in Egypt.
Note that we are talking about 600,000 males over age 20, which means 3 million people (wife’s, children, etc).
So Jesus Christ was visible to all of them in the form of a big cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night which guided 3 million people on their trek.
Exodus 14:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Exodus 14:2 "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-
hahiroth, between Migdol and the [Red] sea; you shall camp in front
of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea.
…
the Straits of Tiran, islands, that is where Baal-zephon is.
Exodus 14:3 "For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are
wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'
Exodus 14:4 "Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after
them [Israel to the Red Sea]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh
and all his army [via the destruction of those who opposed God], and
the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." And they [Moses and
the Jews] did so.
Exodus 14:5 ¶ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled,
Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward [letting] the
people [Jews go], and they said, "What is this we have done, that we
have let Israel go from serving us?"
Exodus 14:6 So he [Pharaoh] made his chariot [‘tank’ army] ready and
took his people with him [soldiers];
Exodus 14:7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other
chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt,
and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going
out boldly.
Exodus 14:9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses
and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they
overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of
Baal-zephon.
Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring
[they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not
the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and
they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the
Lord.
FEAR…
Exodus 14:11 Then they said [complained] to Moses, "Is it because there
were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the
wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of
Egypt?
Exodus 14:12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying,
'Leave us alone that we may serve [remain slaves to] the Egyptians'?
For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die
in the wilderness [desert]?"
It is amazing to me that Moses did not quit right there.
What a bunch of &%^#^@
He didn’t. You know why. He Learn (via God) what God wanted, was Motivated to do what God said (burning bush), Trusted God, and did what He was told. (not to mention the every minute reminder of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He TRUSTED God.
In the face of adversity – whining people – HE TRUSTED GOD
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Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear!
[CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord
which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your
problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them
again forever.
<>
… no command to Do not Fear. Love the Lord … Future-Act-Indic
... You have to want to follow God and use His solutions.
… Choice. God’s way or the My Way Highway
Repeat vs - [why? Because God has given you the tools to deal with
them]
Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep
silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you]
Notice Moses said “stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord”, yet
he did not know how God was going to deliver them. He knew God would
do something and was content (relaxed mental attitude - RMA) to let the
situation unfold. Why? God told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt
and He (God) would lead them to the promised land. God was not going
to let the Jews died at the Red Sea.
Also remember what had happened days earlier
the ten plagues of Egypt (in Exodus chapter 7-13). And the last plague was
all first born in Egypt (Jews and Egyptians) and first-born animals were
killed by Jesus Christ if they did not paint the blood of a lamb over the door
posts of their houses. So probably a few Jews and most if not all Egyptian
first-born children were killed in one night as Moses told Pharaoh they
would be if Pharaoh did not release the Jews. Which Pharaoh did not at
that point. Only after Pharaoh’s first-born son died did Pharaoh agree to
release the Jews.
So all this just happened. Pharaoh released the Jews and they headed out
of town fast (as fast as 3 million people could walk).
Let me stop here. I think it is illustrative to see what the impact of this
death of the first born was at a personal level. Take your family. Who is
the first born? Who in your family? Was your father the first born? Your
mother? Are you the oldest in your family? How about your aunts and
uncles? Think about you family and who is the first born. If they did not
do what God said they would have all died in one night.
So you see, it has a great impact if we make it personal to our family.
So having a personal understanding of what the impact was on the first
born in a family dying means you can see why Pharaoh decided to let the
Jews leave and suffer the consequences of having no more slaves in Egypt.
The terrible personal impact of trying to fight Israel’s God. Your God.
Remember that every day! The power of Your God.
The lesson here is we need to do what God says. We are to Learn and Think about what God says, use that to Motivate us to change our thinking and to follow His commands and to use His procedures to live our lives (Act). Not following God and what He says has disastrous results as we will see in the continuation of our story.
Back to our story.
So Moses just said to the whining and crying Jews –
Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear!
[CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord
which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your
problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them
again forever. [why? −>]
Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep
silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you]
Exodus 14:15 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you [the Jews]
crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward.
Exodus 14:16 "And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand
over the sea and divide it [follow God’s procedure], and the sons of
Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land [Omnipotence
of God].
Exodus 14:17 [God speaking to Moses] "And as for Me, behold, I will
harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them
[Omniscience]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his
army, through his chariots and his horsemen.
Exodus 14:18 "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I
am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his
horsemen."
Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God [Jesus Christ], who had been going
before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the
pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
[Omnipotence]
Exodus 14:20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of
Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave
light at night. Thus the one [Pharaoh’s army] did not come near the
other [Jews] all night. [Omnipotence]
Exodus 14:21 ¶ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea
[following God’s procedure]; and the Lord swept the sea back by a
strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land
[Omnipotence], so the waters were divided.
Exodus 14:22 And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on
the dry land [following God’s procedure], and the waters were like a
wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 14:23 Then [the pillar of fire moved away and] the Egyptians took
up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his
horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea.
Exodus 14:24 And it came about at the morning watch, that the Lord
looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire
and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion.
Exodus 14:25 And He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He
made them drive with difficulty [Omnipotence]; so the Egyptians
said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against
the Egyptians."
Exodus 14:26 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over
the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over
their chariots and their horsemen [Listen to God]."
Exodus 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea [following
God’s procedure], and the sea returned to its normal state at
daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord
overthrew [drowned] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.
Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the
horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after
them; not even one of them remained.
Exodus 14:29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land [God’s
Omnipotence] through the midst of the sea [God provides everything
they needed, dry vs muddy land], and the waters were like a wall to
them on their right hand and on their left.
Exodus 14:30 Thus the Lord delivered Israel that day from the hand of
the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
Exodus 14:31 And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had
used against the Egyptians, the people respected the Lord, and they
believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. [there is a
difference between believing and trusting]
So that is the story.
What do we learn from this?
<>
God promised Israel a land of their own 650 yrs before [Genesis 12:1-3].
God raised up Moses to be a leader to take the Jews out of Egypt and into
the land that He promised. Moses did what God told him to do. He went
to Pharaoh to tell him that God said to let His people go. And to prove the
power of God, God showed Pharaoh by the first plague His power, and
when Pharaoh refused, he gave him 9 other times (total 10 plagues) to
cause him to change his mind. Pharaoh did not until his son and all the
first born people & cattle in Egypt died because they did not follow God’s instruction to paint lamb’s blood on their door posts.
After Pharaoh relented and let the Jews go initially, then Moses led them
out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. The Jews packed up all their
belongings and gathered their families and started to march in the
direction that Moses, and the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night
lead them. Visual confirmation of God fulfilling His promises.
Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Jews and
when the Egyptians chased the Jews and pinned them against the Red Sea, Moses, before God said anything to him, stood up and told the whining
Jews to ‘Stand still (shut up and calm down) and watch the deliverance of
the Lord’. Moses Trusted God to make good on His promise to leading the
Jews out of Egypt and to His promised land, even though Moses had no
idea how God would do it. He just believed (Trusted) God would solve the
problem.
Then God told Moses what to do – stretch out your staff.... God used
nature to part the waters, and used His Omnipotence to make sure the land
(sea bed) was dry so they could easily walk on it.
After God removed the pillar of fire blocking the Egyptians from pursuing
the Jews, they started to pursue the Jews. They were gaining on the Jews,
so God made it difficult (Omnipotence) for the Egyptians to pursue the
Jews (He caused their chariot wheels to swerve). And when 3 million Jews
completed the crossing, then God told Moses to “Stretch out your hand
over the sea” and Moses did and the water came down on the Egyptians
and killed them all.
<>
What are we to learn about this as far as our Christian Way of Living
(CWLiving) is concerned?
[^]
●We see that Moses listened – listened to God [aka Learn].
●Moses followed God’s instructions [aka Think – Motive – Act].
●God provided a solution
-parted the Red Sea,
-made the sea bed ground dry,
-stopped the Egyptians from following via the Cloud of Fire,
-The Jews moved quickly across the sea [speed was essential].
God killed Pharaoh’s army completely [so for all of human history God
would be known – evangelism and a warning: don’t mess with God and
don’t mess with Israel]
And by contrast, we have the Jewish people that Moses was leading.
They followed Moses mainly because it was freedom, some followed Moses
because they believed in God and recalled His promise to them. Yet when
the there was a little adversity, the Jews as a group failed. When they
started to see the Egyptians coming, they panicked. They complained to
Moses, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to kill us?” And many complained
to God.
So you see this is the real problem. And unfortunately, throughout
the bible and in all of human history: many people know of God, they were
acquainted with God, in this case the Jews saw His power (10 plagues,
Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by night, and the killing of the entire
Egyptian Army) yet did not trust God. They knew Him believe in a god but did not trust Him in what He said via Moses and what they experienced.
They refused to Learn and Think about God and what He told them. They
also were not Motivated to believe and Trust God and Act according to
what He told them.
<<
BUT … you can not make their mistake…
Rebound when necessary
Learn the promises of God
Diligently use the F/R Drill
Learn and Think about God’s Divine Essence in your life.
Appreciate and love God.
Trust in the Lord
Lean not
In all your ways
…and He will make your paths straight
>>
When you think about it: Trusting God, it should be a rather easy thing to
do. One prohibition in the Garden …. Crunch
So it is not and there are various excuses why. But if you just look at this trust issue objectively for a moment,
You should see that it is a no- brainer to Learn and Think about God. Then to decide to follow God (Motive) and then follow His procedures and learn to
think like God thinks about circumstances, people and yourself (Act).
If God is God, and He is, then He is all powerful. Whether it is the driving
situation and the weather example I used, or providing
an escape route for the Jews at the Red Sea. God is Omnipotent, all
powerful. There is nothing He can’t do (IAW His Plan).
So if we start with that, then we
can look at His Divine attribute of Love. He loves us with a perfect Love.
He only wants the best for us. So “how much more” can God provide for
us than we for ourselves. So:
●by trusting God,
●using His solutions, like Rebound when necessary; learning promises
●and using them diligently via F/R Procedure,
●learning about His Divine Essence and how it works,
then God’s Righteousness and Justice are satisfied and God is able to work
out circumstances in your favor - basically His plan for you and your life.
And the bonus: when you Trust God then you have a Relaxed Mental
Attitude (RMA) and you have contentment in life.
Positively - when you do things God’s way,
Rebound when necessary and diligently use the F/R procedure
then God answers your prayers and works circumstances for your benefit
– called blessing.
It also works in the negative way. When we do not use Rebound when necessary, when we don’t use the F/R procedure, when we go your own way and use our own human strength instead of using God’s
solutions (Rebound, F/R procedure) then God’s +R rejects that and God’s
Justice either allows you to experience the consequence of your own
solutions (called Reaping what you Sow) and/or gives you Divine
Discipline.
BUT, that Divine Discipline is not to ‘hurt’ you per se, it is a
‘sting’ to remind you that God’s way is the only way and for you to return
to Rebounding when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure and
to Trust and depend upon Him.
Again, Moses knew what God had promised and told him directly, and he
trusted God. The Jews also saw all this and experienced this and yet
amazingly most of the Jews did not trust God. They were excited to leave
and not be slaves but when God is some distant thing and not personal and
when you do not see what He does as personal, then it was just some good
circumstances and they were happy to leave Egypt. That is until they
started walking in the wilderness...
See you can ‘believe’ in God but Trusting in God is something else.
Believing in God takes nothing. Just say you do. Trusting in God means
first: you get to know God (Divine Essence) and how God thinks and acts
then you learn to follow what He says including trusting Him to protect
you, deliver you and bring circumstances into your life for your benefit. I
used the word benefit to mean happiness, a relaxed mental attitude
(RMA), supplying all you need (food, shelter, clothing) so that you can
execute a plan that God developed for you individually in eternity past.
Most people trust themselves and do things using their own power, smarts
and skills. Being a believer in Jesus Christ, we use those things BUT we
don’t depend upon them to be successful. We can trust and depend upon
God to provide for us. We do the best job we can in every circumstance,
yet it is God who works circumstances to provide for us: like a job, etc, etc.
We just don’t sit on a hammock swinging in the back yard waiting for God
to take care of us.
As I have emphasized, Trust is key. You take baby steps by first
Rebounding when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure.
When you see God coming through for you once, you gain confidence.
Then you keep using the F/R procedure and God comes through for you
again, then you gain more confidence.
When you learn more about God and how God thinks then you start reflecting His thinking in your mind and you act accordingly (Learn, Think, Motive, Act).
Some people do, most do not. Most Christians have no idea of the things
This church teaches. So there is a big difference between believing there is a God vs Trusting God. We Learn and understand what God says, what His
promises are and we claim those promises then God comes through for us.
Moses trusted God, the Jewish people did not. And many of the Jews were
believers, who were going to go to heaven. But they chose not to believe
(Learn and Trust) what Moses taught them and what God said even though
they were eyewitnesses to all that happened in Egypt. Eyewitnesses!
That is the same choice that is before all of us today. Believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ and then learn how to live in the (Cosmic) world using God’s
solutions to have a great life, filled with peace and tranquility, fulfilling
what God has for us individually to do in His plan. It all starts with Faith
Alone in Christ Alone for salvation, then Rebounding when
necessary and diligently using the Faith Rest Procedure (claiming God’s
promises) and trusting Him to come through for us and being relaxed
about that and being relaxed in general while there is chaos all around us
(many times).
God gives us a choice and He give us all the information we need to make
that choice. We can choose for or against God. Some people do, most do
not. Some Christians do, most Christians do not. You can do what the
Jews in this narrative. panic when things get out of control around you,
personally or nationally. Or, we can Trust God, His promises and what He
says.
So this is a example of Trust and patience. Trust in someone greater than
ourselves, relax that God will take care of the situation and patently wait
on God’s solution.
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So what are we to learn from this? Trust God in what He says (In my three lessons so far it is Rebound when necessary. Learn His promises and diligently use the F/R Procedure, think about God in terms of His Divine Essence and how it functions).
Wait on God’s timing,
Now most if not all of your problems, concerns, cares, are not that
urgent. Right? Even so, you can do what Moses did. Make a plea (Moses
made an urgent plea to God – used the Faith Rest procedure, gave the
problem over to God and then did what God commanded him to do.)
When God delivers you and you look back on it, you will be amazed.
Most of your requests to God are not like parting the Red Sea, but you will see how things worked out, many times not in any way you thought, but you
will see the results of God at work in your life. Perfect God gives perfect
Loving results (you would expect nothing less as a Father).
So isn’t it better for you if God picks the solution to your request rather
than you deciding what to do and doing something on your strength and
timing? Don’t act from an emotional aspect. Go to God in prayer and use
the Faith Rest procedure then “Stand still and watch the deliverance of the
Lord”. God is perfect, He has perfect timing and knows all the facts and
has all the power to do what He wants done. Using the F/R procedure is
doing things the right way, because of that then God’s +R (Righteousness)
is satisfied and His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you in
your situation. This is how you are to think.
It is simple to understanding what God wants, and it is hard to implement
because we are impatient and immature in our thinking as it relates to
God. Not to mention we want it done our way (mostly).
Oh by the way, God uses this ‘waiting on His timing’ to teach us patience.
(I just thought I’d mention what is experientially obvious.)
It is just part of God’s humor.
It may not be ‘funny’ but it is humorous.
Think of being a parent and ‘knowing’ what a child will do even though you told him not to do something. When you know he will do it anyway. So you wait until he does it then you take some action.
Same with God. Are you going to be patient and Trust (there is that word again) and wait or do it your way? As Rick Hughes says – are you going to go down the My Way Highway?
But if you Think, repeat Think and use the what I have taught
you (Learn) you can come to the conclusion that God’s way is the
perfect way.
Use His Faith Rest procedure, Trust and have Patience.
It is always for us: “Stop (calm down), Stand Still (use His procedures and
our knowledge of God) and Watch the Deliverance of the Lord”
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Now I want to point out a few things. Most of the children of Israel were
immature believers and some were unbelievers (being a Jew does not
make you a believer, it is always Faith Alone in Christ Alone). God gave
them an opportunity to grow up spiritually (learn to trust God) during the
10 plagues in Egypt that forced Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt. But
sadly (as we find out later) most never grew up spiritually, never trusted
God and died before God allowed them to enter the Promised Land. But
note, God gave them time to grow up and Trust Him and do what He says
(they were witnesses to the plagues on Egypt) but they failed to do so. So
the lesson is don’t you be a failure.
Also with respect to timing of God, this was an immediate issue (chariots
bearing down on the people of Israel), so God acted immediately. That is
not always the timing, it depends upon the situation. With imminent
death the case is clear. Our problems and issues usually are not imminent
death.
Also notice God promised Israel or the Jews a land, a promised
land, but He gave it to them 650 years after the promise to Abraham. That
is another example of God’s timing.
Something always to remember, when you claim a promise or call upon the Lord to deliver on a promise (i.e. God you said x now I am calling on you to do x) God will fulfill His promise in His own timing.
That can be immediate in the case of imminent danger,
it could be minutes, hours, days, weeks, years and sometimes well after
your death. It depends upon what you asked and the promise you claimed
and the Divine timing of God.
Now most promises you claim are not fulfilled after your death and most are not immediate. They are in between.
But patience and waiting upon the timing of God and Trusting
Him is part of the process.
In my experience, God has multiple objectives
in determining when He will answer your prayer and fulfill a promise.
And, it is always to your benefit. Recall Matthew 7:11,
Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about
parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God],
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
“How much more” ... this is a powerful statement. How much more does
God know what is best for you, how much more can God provide for you?
God is a Loving God and wants the very best for you. A perfect God will
act at a perfect time for you.
Moses trusted God, now this did not just happen. It was a process for
Moses as well. The story of Moses is interesting but this is a lesson for
another time. But Moses went through a process to trust God (he was not
born that way). And Moses did learn to trust God and that is why God used
Moses.
And that leads me to my last three points.
1 - The Process of Trusting God
First, God used Moses because Moses trusted God and God knew in
eternity past how Moses would grow up and all the leadership skills He
would develop (in fact God set him on his path). Just like God knows you.
You nor I are Moses. But you are you. And God put you in this time and
place, He knew what you would go through and when you would respond
to Him. He has a marvelous life waiting for you.
You need to Learn what I have told you so far,
Think about it, be Motivated to do what I am telling you and
what God says then Act. Which for you is 1) using Rebound when
necessary; 2) diligently use the Faith Rest procedure (including
memorizing a few promises); 3) Learning about God and His character (JR
SOOO LIVE) and last but not least; 4) How God uses His character in our
lives and in the world around us (e.g. How his +R and Justice work). That
way you can handle problems and to learn to Trust God – it is a process; it
takes time and effort. Learn, Think, Motive, Act.
So just like Moses, you learn about God and His plan (use Rebound and
Faith Rest and also learn about God’s character and nature and how He
uses it). Then you can decide to follow His plan, you are Motivated to do
what God says and you Act (with courage God provides via the Faith Rest
procedure), then wait and watch what God does for you.
2 - The Red Sea Incident is not just a Story
Second, this is not some story nor something God did once in the past and
has no relevance to you, today, personally. It does.
While I would agree I have not seen something like the Red Sea parting or
every first-born child of every family in a nation die, there are recent
examples that you can point to. I do this to make this real, these are not
just some stories. They happened and it is our responsibility to
understand them and apply them to our lives today.
A recent example: In WWII, 1945, during my mothers and father’s
lifetime. Germany murdered 6 million Jews in concentration camps. It
was horrible. I do not know how much you really know about the horror
and gore of that time. I recently visited a very small exhibit on Children of
the Holocaust. I got half way into it and started to cry. I stopped and
prayed to God. I was visibly and emotionally impacted by what I saw and
read. (Man’s inhumanity to man, it happened before and it will happen
again. The result of no God in their lives and nation.) And I was not even
around when this happened. What happened was truly horrible and in a
certain way unbelievable. But it did happen. Yet God did stop it and God
made the German people pay a terrible price for this atrocity. Not like
parting the Red Sea, but the US Army defeated Germany. We take this for
granted but it was not inevitable that the US Army would win and in the
Christmas of 1944 we almost lost. And if you look at pictures of German
cities just after the war, they were leveled. No building stood; they were
all rubble. Germany had to be rebuilt from scratch. It destroyed people’s
lives and they almost all starved to death – no way to plant crops (no
tractors or fuel), no way to get them to market, millions of Germans almost
died of starvation. Germany paid a terrible price for the Nazi party and
their part in it. Only God and His power could make Germany fall and
then pay a horrible price for years and years for what they had done.
Remember here in this story, the entire Egyptian army, all of them,
drowned in the Red Sea. Egypt could not defend itself at that point. Many
more men were killed than just the first born now. A horrible price to pay
for not obeying God. He said “Let My people go”. They refused. God gave
them 10 warnings (plagues) and when Egypt reneged on letting the Jews
go, He drown the army in the Red Sea. All of them.
Don’t just let this be a story. It has to have impact on you and your
thinking. How? This is the power (Omnipotence) and the Righteousness
and Justice of God in action. Against the Egyptians for reneging on what
they said. For Germany for socialism and murder. This is the same God
that you believe in and who Loves you and protects you. So obedience to
God is not a small thing. God’s Righteousness and Justice are real and
have impact. They are in operation 24 hrs a day. His +R and Justice can
bless you when you follow His procedures. His +R and Justice can bring
discipline and heartache your way for disobedience. AND His discipline is
not to hurt you per se, but to bring a ‘sting’ to you so that you recognize
that you are not following God’s procedures and to encourage you back.
God is not mean. He loves you like a parent loves a child and disciplines
that child in Love. You and I are no different in Gods eyes.
3 - The Big Deal – Trust God
Third, and this is a big deal. Recall
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Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring
[they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not
the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and
they became very frightened;
This is the pivotal point in the story. Trust. Notice Israel keep staring
[they looked at the enemy]. Fear.
Stop right there. This is the biggest problem
we all have as believers in Jesus Christ. We look at our problems in life,
and many times we instantly believe they are insurmountable (fear). We should ‘glance’ at our problems and immediately Think and recall what we know about God and know God has a solution just waiting to use IF we use the Faith Rest procedure.
The analogy here is that we stare at our problems and the problems get
bigger and bigger and we try and figure out a solution and we get upset,
mad, angry. We lose our RMA that God has provided for us based upon
our diligent use of the Faith Rest procedure and we are relying upon
ourselves for a solution. The moment we feel agitated or getting angry or
disappointed, or any other adverb, we need to STOP. “Stop (calm down),
Stand Still” - Think about the Faith Rest procedure and use a promise that
we have memorized. Then regain our RMA and “Watch the Deliverance of
the Lord”.
See these Jews as I have said were immature. They just panicked. We
know the story. We can see that. They did not know the future, yet they
chose, in their past, not to grow up spiritually, i.e. CWLiving, and choose
to be infants and unable to handle adversity or what looked like adversity.
We are the same way. We can just let this be a story or we can see it for
what God intended it to be for the last 3500 years. A lesson for us to grow
up, using His solutions and retaining a RMA in adversity and have a
wonderful, meaningful life. The choice is ours to make.
Everything I have discussed in these last 3 lessons is so that you can learn about this God and
understand what He wants of you, so you can follow what He says – adopt
His thinking – in order to have a life worth living, versus just doing things
our own way.
God’s way
Or the My Way Highway