Sacrifice

I know it has been a while since my last post but sometimes it takes me a while to fully understand what the Lord is trying to teach me. I recently read the sermon notes from a Pastor in TX. He has a great blog. I'm still new at this blog thing so I'm not sure how to include the link but his blog is called "Hillcrest church - Pastor Mark's blog" and I have found a lot of valuable information and links from it. Back to the sermon notes...He used the story from 1 Chronicles 21:18-30. In verse 24 David says "I will not take for the Lord what is yours or sacrifice a burnt offering that cost me nothing." It reminded me of an illustration the Lord has been stirring in my heart. My children are at the age where they love to pick me dandelions.They bring them to me with huge smiles and say "look Mommy I picked you some flowers." I don't have the heart to tell them that they are actually weeds, and I always put them in a glass with some water and treat them like a priceless treasure until they die and when the kids aren't looking I throw them away. How would I feel if my husband brought me dandelions though? The same way any wife of 11 years would. I would give him that "you've got to be kidding me" look and storm out of the room. Why? Because he knows they are weeds and they didn't cost him anything. I had to ask myself, am I still bringing the Lord a handful of dandelions? Do I really expect the Lord to continue to accept an offering that has cost me nothing? Is my relationship still that shallow or is he expecting something more of me?

Knowing God's Will

It's what we are all seeking but yet many of us can't seem to figure out. What is God's will for my life? Or even what is God's will for a certain situation? Will I know it's God's will if I have a "peace about it"? I have heard that used by many people..."I just don't have a peace about it", but does God's will and peace always go hand in hand? As I think about many familiar Bible stories I have to say the answer is no. I don't remember it saying anywhere that Abraham had peace as he climbed Mt. Moriah to sacrifice Issac. He had faith and believed God would provide an offering but I don't read anywhere that he had peace during the whole ordeal. What about Jonah? He obviously did not have a peace about going to Nineveh, that's why he went the other direction. Even when he saw God have mercy on the people and they repented, Jonah still didn't have peace, instead he was mad that God had used him to show that mercy. There are countless other examples of men and women who did God's will despite their own feeling but I do have one more to share. Jesus knew that it was his Father's will for Him to die on that cross but the anguish and drops of sweat with blood don't sound like peace to me. Even Jesus had to put his own feelings aside and just do the Father's will, peace or not. My husband made a very profound statement while we were discussing this issue. He said "if God always paved the way for us then we wouldn't need faith." Wow. God's will is not a peace issue it's a faith issue. Faith comes from hearing and hearing comes from the Word of God. So, how do we know the will of God? Know the Word of God, and don't be afraid to step out in faith. God always rewards those who have faith.