1. Judges 6, Gideon is approached by an Angel of the Lord, not believing it is the Lord, he asks for a sign, he gets it, then says to God, 'don't be angry with me, i need one more sign its you', so God in His grace gives him another sign. C'mon! I say, how don't you get that Gideon?! God talked to you, you saw the Angel and yet you needed 2 signs to understand it was Him?! Really?
Ha!
That's so me. I have had prayers clearly answered by God since I was a teenager and yet, nearly 30, I bring something to God, lay it before Him and wonder if He is there, if He hears me or if He cares.
2. Then in Luke's writings of the crucifixion, he recounts Peter. Being a disciple, he saw countless miracles, he knew Jesus was the Messiah, the Lord. Jesus told Him directly days earlier, you will disown me. Peter denied it.
Luke 22:54-62
Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him:“Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
God always wins, Jesus always wins. What was Peter scared of? Would he possibly suffer with Jesus? That would be frightening to me too, possibly suffering alongside Him. Jesus rose 3 days later, God won, Satan was defeated. Would I, like Peter, have denied Him out of fear? (shudder).
3. Then in Psalms, they reference the Israelites...
Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”
The Israelites were flip-flopping - believe God and be taken care of / not believe and be miserable and back and forth, back and forth. I mean seriously how many times before they get it?? Can they not just trust God, for once and for all?? Oh, maybe we're like that too.
What God is showing me, is that He is in each Moment, He creates each moment, He's here. How can we shut Him out of life or moments of life?
The message below I emailed to Quinn on Monday to tell him of my 'vision'.
I drank coffee last night, so couldn't sleep when we went to bed (11:15). I need to stop drinking coffee in the evenings, not good. I was laying there thinking about God and I had a vision, sorta. If i was a graphic designer I'd create a picture, but I'm not, so I'll do my best for you to see it in your mind.
I envisioned a multi storey building, God forms the base of this structure, then on the first floor are big chunk words of "your birth", amongst the words are pillars, each piller has G-O-D lengthways down the side of it, lots of pillars amongst the floor ,to hold up the second floor. The Second floor has the word Education throughout it. Many pillars again with GOD throughout each floor, many, many floors form this building with parts of life, such as your family, friends, knowledge, your marriage, your child(ren), (I didn`t really get past the 'child' floor, prob because I haven`t been there yet) with lots of God pillars throughout each floor, I did understand that the top floor is the end of your life and God pillars are there too.
I don't think the words I wrote justify this image given to me last night, it was beautiful and majestic, lots of strength. I kinda felt compelled to get out of bed and go record it then, but my mind was getting tired. Right after this my arms and hands felt very heavy, like they had mini pillars encasing them, it felt heavy, but it was in a good way, like it was God`s strength right there (hard to explain). I asked Him to release the weight actually because it was preventing me from sleep. :)
I know God was showing me how He is IN each moment of life, he GIVES us each moment and He's with us in each moment, He created each moment and He is in the moment, something we should never forget. He can help us in each moment, He is the moment.
What I know today is, I must be more aware of how I act, react and live each moment. God is with me, he's here.
