Acts 16:16-40

  "…Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

{Nehemiah 8:10b} (NIV1984)

Strength is linked to joy! Our spiritual strength is dependent upon the joy we have. We are commanded to be STRONG; strong and courageous, strong in the Lord, strong in His grace, strong to the end. 

Strength is dependent on joy. We see this so clearly in Paul’s experience in jail in Phillipi. Who would sing in a situation like that? Someone who had joy in the LORD! Look and ponder at the outcome. How many times, have the saints of God been in dire and desperate situations, and yet joy bursts forth and they remain strong to the end. 

How many times have we been in situations that are terrible? The Spirit moves our mind to consider what the Lord has done for us, and joy breaks through the clouds of doubt and despair. Oh Friend, let us fix our eyes on our Lord. Let us remember the wonderful salvation He wrought in our lives. No storm cloud can be so dark as to stop the Son from shining in our lives. Try it this week. Make up your mind now, before the dark times hit. When the darkness comes, turn your mind towards Him, joy will come to your heart, though the troubles remain- they will pale in comparison to the beauty of the Lord and His salvation- and you will be strong to the end. The joy of the LORD is your strength!

Deuteronomy 5

"If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own."

{John 7:17}  (NIV1984)

 

Our Lord Jesus makes it very plain: it is our choice to do God’s will or not. It is a matter of our will, as to whether or not God’s will is done by us. God is sovereign; He declares the end from the beginning, and yet God has left it to us to decide if we will do His revealed will or not. 

This is His plan - to reveal our hearts toward Him. The Lord made this point, because His enemies were questioning His teaching, specifically because He hadn’t gone to a formal school. The simple point was that if His enemies would obey the commands of God revealed through Moses, than they would recognize that Jesus was teaching truth from God. So it is today. Those ones who will not recognize Jesus as coming from God are people who chose not to obey the commands of God sent through Moses. Any person who seeks to obey the commands of God sent through Moses, will recognize their need for a Saviour, and will recognize Jesus as Lord. These people were blind!  

Oh Father thank you for changing my heart; so that I desire to do your will, and so that I know Jesus came from you!

Psalm 40

  "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who
does the will of God lives forever."

{1 John 2:17} (NIV1984)

What we need in our lives, more than anything else, is to do the revealed will of God. Adam and Eve thought that God’s revealed will was holding them back; somehow stopping them from being all that they could be. God’s instruction was simple, there was only one instruction, and yet they disobeyed it and followed their desires. 

It is typical behaviour of humans, to follow Adam and Eve, and to believe that God’s will is revealed to us, in order to stop us from living the great life that we deserve and desire. The truth is the opposite! Following God’s will is what brings us life! Life that is abundant, life that is eternal! 

All of the things we see around us. All of the experiences we have in this world. Everything will pass away, but if we obey God’s revealed will, we will live with Him forever. 

What command of God are we not obeying today? Are we loving God with all our hearts? Are we loving our neighbours as ourselves?  

Oh Heavenly Father, may your will be done in my life today, as it is done in heaven. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one.

Exodus 18:13-27

"Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will.""

 {Exodus 18:15}  (NIV1984)

To “seek God’s will” (NIV), “to inquire of God” (NASB, ESV, NKJV), occurs when a person desires to know what God wants them to do in a specific situation. 

Everyone in this passage pleased God: the people who lined up and waited for the opportunity to have their case heard. Moses, who listened to the situations, and then brought practical application of God’s Laws to their situations. Jethro, who observed, and advised on a practical method, to make it easier for the people to seek God’s will. 600,000 men with women and children, living in tents in the wilderness, would create a large number of situations. Rather than dealing with each other as they saw best, the people of God would come to hear how God would want them to handle the disagreement. 

There are many situations that arise, in our families, at our workplace, in our church. Do we seek God’s will? Do we inquire of God? Do we ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom? Do we read the Word of God daily? May we be as righteous as those Israelites in the wilderness! May we seek God’s will for the situations in our lives today.

Nehemiah 9

"Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you."

{Hebrews 13:17} (NIV1984) 

The book of Nehemiah is a goldmine for leaders trying to find Christian leadership principles. This man was a very successful leader in every way, and yet it seems, by what is written at the end of the book, that he was discouraged at the end of his ministry. Although the people confessed their sins and renewed a covenant with God, they went back to their sinful ways and caused Nehemiah much distress. 

Moses was very distressed by the people he led, and when we read the gospels we see the distress of our Lord. God places men over us. It is the way life works. We have political leaders, we have work leaders, we have family leaders, and we have church leaders. God takes credit for setting up all leaders, even the wicked ones, and all will give an account to Him. But the church leaders, those who are over us in Christ, they must give an account as servants over the household of God. They are servants who are placed in positions of service over God’s children. These children of God were purchased with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus, they have been loved by God before the creation of the world, and in His love He placed leaders over them. God has high expectations for these leaders, and they will answer to Him. This verse reminds us that we are expected to trust God and submit to leadership, and make their work a joy. 

O Father, help us to trust you. Help us to be a blessing to our leaders. Thank you for your Holy Spirit, who gives us the power to change. Amen