4SpiritualSecrets

“…  in everything … with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4: 6, 7)

In the last chapter of the letter to his favorite Church at Philippi Paul gives them and us a prescription for peace.  The peace of God is a state of personal peace in which God can keep a believer if they meet certain conditions (Isaiah 26:3).  I find twelve such conditions in this chapter.

As I seek to maintain my personal peace of God I get more mileage out of the prescription listed above than any of the others.  I have discovered that when I begin to thank God for all the good things in my life it is as if a switch is thrown and I find my mind automatically moving from the negative to the positive.

To use another metaphor, if I were to place all the bad stuff in my life on the left side of a scale-like a scale of justice – and all the good stuff on the right side of that scale, the right side will far outweigh the left side.  That’s what happens when I implement what we might call, “The Therapy of Thanksgiving.”

An old hymn put it this way:

That’s why the prescription of Paul is that when we pray, in everything (not for everything), we should pray thankful prayers.  He promises that when we do so the peace of God will stand guard over our hearts and minds.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55: 8, 9)

If a man’s steps are directed by the LORD, how can that man always expect to understand the way he is going? (Proverbs 20:24)

When God spoke through the prophet Isaiah He told us there is as much difference between the way He thinks and does things and the way we think and do things as the heavens are high above the earth.  Building on that revelation the wisest man who ever lived proposed a logical question: if God is directing the steps of a person how can that person always expect to understand the way they are going?

As a God-passionate person, doing your best to follow the guidance of the Lord, have you ever found yourself completely baffled and blown away by inexplicable happenings like the sudden death of a loved one, or other tragedies?  When we put the two Scriptures quoted above side by side we should expect there to be times when we simply do not understand what God is up to.

Moses explained that what he called the “secret things” belong to the Lord but the things He wants us to do He has made very clear (Deuteronomy 29:29).  That means there are secret things God is keeping to Himself.  If God is keeping those secret things to Himself nobody can explain them.

All these verses considered together are telling us that while we walk with God we should not expect to understand everything.  We walk by faith.  If we understood everything we would eliminate the need for faith.

“For… to Him are all things… To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” ..(Romans 11:36)

The Apostle Paul concluded the argument of his greatest theological masterpiece with an inspired benediction in which he declared that God is the Source of all things, He is the Power behind all things and the glory of God is the purpose for all things.

When Paul puts these two words “all things” together as quoted above he is referring to all the things he has written about in his letter to believers in the city of Rome.  He then concludes his inspired and the most comprehensive explanation of the Gospel ever written by quoting Isaiah: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments (decisions) and His ways past finding out!” That is followed by his benediction as referenced above.

I come to this truth on the day when many who love me are celebrating my 80^th birthday.  A secular motivational speaker, Dale Carnegie, wrote that the most beautiful sound in the world to a man is the sound of his own name.  I disagree with him because there is a sense in which I do not even like the sound of my name.  To me the most beautiful sound in the world is the name of Jesus Christ because apart from Him I would be a zero with the circle rubbed out.

As I reflect on Paul’s benediction I have made the commitment that I do not want to pour my life into any venture unless I am certain that God is the Source of it, He is the Power behind it and the glory of God is its purpose.  How does this benediction impact your mindset?

“For… through Him… are all things…” (Romans 11:36)

The Apostle Paul concludes Romans with a profound benediction where he tells us that God is the power behind all things.  This claim is preceded by his declaration that God is the Source of all things and it is followed by his announcement that the glory of God is the purpose for all things.

I resonate in a special way with this middle part of his benediction because I have been experiencing chronic fatigue since 1978.  Since as a bed fast quadriplegic I now have no strength of my own, it is impossible for me to be involved in the work of God unless God is the Power behind all the work He wants me to do for Him in this world.

It is the plan of God to use the power of God in the people of God to accomplish the purposes of God according to the plan of God. The Bible is filled with stories that illustrate this proposition.  To this end we continuously read that God delights in doing extraordinary things through very ordinary people while He uses His power in them to accomplish His purposes.

Sadly, many people think God cannot use them because they are just ordinary people.  But the more ordinary we are increases the glory God receives when He works through us.  God can anoint our tool kit and our skill set when we surrender our will to His.  He can also add spiritual gifts to our life we do not have before we bring our ordinariness to Him and lay it at His feet.

Are you willing to do that and prove that God is the power behind all things?

“For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to Him be glory forever.  Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

Throughout his inspired writings the Apostle Paul uses the two words “all things” frequently but never lightly.  In his letter to the Romans his theological argument begins in the first chapter and ends with the verse quoted above.  When he uses these two words here he probably means all the things of which he has written in this theological masterpiece of all his writings.

To paraphrase and summarize this verse, he is stating that God is the Source of all things, the Power behind all things, and His Glory is the purpose for all things.  He then begins the application part of his letter by telling us it only makes sense for us to surrender our will to the will of the One Who is the Source of everything, the Power behind everything, and whose glory is the purpose for everything.

To take these propositions one at a time, consider the reality that God is the Source of all things. Is God the Source of the financial downturns we are experiencing today? The great prophet Isaiah wrote: “I am the LORD, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’ (Isaiah 45: 6-7)

It seems that calamities are like a black velvet backdrop against which God exhibits the diamonds of His Gospel.  If there were no evil how would our God exhibit His goodness, unconditional love and salvation?  In the Hebrew history recorded in the Old Testament God frequently got the attention of His people by turning off the growing processes and creating a famine.  Could He be doing that in your life today?

…“But he brought us out from there to bring us in …”             — (Deuteronomy 6:23 NIV)

God often wants to do a new thing in our life.  This strategy of God is profiled in the verse quoted above where we read that He brought them out (of Egypt) that He might bring them in (to the Promised Land of Canaan.)

When He wants to do a new thing in our life He has three challenges.  First He has to get us out of the old so He can lead us into the new thing He has for us.  That’s not easy because we are creatures who are bound by security issues and we don’t want to come out of the old.  He, therefore, sometimes has to blast us out of the old so He can bring us into the new thing.  That is why the will of God often involves a pull from the front and a boot from the rear.

His next challenge is that he has to keep us going so he can pull us through the transition time between the old and the new.  Transitions are hell and so we need a lot of grace to get through our transition times.  This is especially true when the transitions may involve years of time.

His third challenge is that He has to get us right so He can settle us into the new thing He has for us. This could happen because we are burned out in a dead end job of an old place and He has something much better for us.  There are many reasons why God may want to do a new thing in your life.  Will you cooperate with Him as He works you through those three challenges?

“…  All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16 NIV)

I find it intriguing to know that in little genes that cannot be seen with the naked eye the genetic heritage of a human being is determined:  how high their head will be from the sidewalk, the color of their eyes, their hair, the capacity of their intellectual gifts, their athleticism and even mannerisms are all wrapped up in microscopic genes.

In this inspired Psalm, David – a great warrior, king, man after the heart of God and hymn writer –  tells us that before we existed as genes God had determined the days we would live on this earth.  The Living Bible Paraphrase reads that before we existed God had an agenda for every day we were to live on this earth.

One day my wife and I woke up and prayed together that if our agenda for that day did not agree with God’s agenda we were willing to be preempted.  While we were having lunch with our pastor son later that day, I realized I was having a heart attack.  While the 911 people were taking me out the door I said to my wife, “Looks like we’re being preempted big time!”

They were able to turn things around before it became a full blown heart attack. However, that experience gave my wife and me a perspective we will never forget.  There is God’s agenda and there is our agenda for every day we live.  How should that truth impact the way we plan our agendas each day?  Are we really willing to be preempted by God’s agenda every day?

^“… My Word… will achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

In a marvelous chapter taken from the prophecy of the one who is called “The prince of the prophets,” Isaiah tells us why he preached the Word of God.  Earlier in this chapter he proclaimed that there is as much difference between the way we think and act and how God thinks and acts as the heavens are high above the earth.  He tells us he preached the Word of God because God’s Word can bring about an alignment between the way God thinks and acts and the way people think and act.

There is a strong emphasis in the Scripture on the importance of our will being in alignment with the will of God.  Jesus made his greatest prayer when He sweat drops of blood and prayed, “Not My will but Your will be done.” He taught His disciples to pray, “Your will be done in earth (or in their earthen vessels), as it is in heaven.”

The Word of God frequently describes the struggle between God and men like Moses, Job, Jonah, and many others who finally submit their will to the will of God  – and the will of God is done in and through them on earth as it is in heaven.  When God declares through Isaiah that His Word will not return to Him without accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it, I am convinced that this is the purpose God had in mind.

When you read or hear the Word of God proclaimed, will you let God accomplish this purpose for the Word of God?  Will you let the Word of God bring about an alignment between your will and the will of God?

I’ve been asked to post this guest blog on behalf of those who love and appreciate Dick Woodward and his ministry.  Even though Papa has been a bed-fast quadriplegic for many years (the only way he’s been out of the house is in an ambulance!), he continues to faithfully serve God from his hospital bed at home – meeting with a daily stream of appointments, mentoring young people, and writing books, biblical guides, and things like this blog using his voice-activated computer.

When Papa turned 70, his pulmonologist doctor called and said, “Dick, don’t you know you should have gone on to Heaven at least ten years ago?”  With all the complications of quadriplegia, my father’s life is truly a miracle – a gift from God who continues to prove the Four Spiritual Secrets that “when you can’t, just remember I CAN!!”

In October we will celebrate God’s amazing gift of life on Papa’s 80^th birthday. We’ve set this site up for you to leave comments and messages for him – (he receives all these blog comments directly on his computer.)   Please also take time to check out his blogs. He writes at least two a week that, (with a little help from the Blog-Posting-Elf,) usually get posted on Tuesdays & Fridays.

Grace, Peace & Blog Posting Elves  –  Virginia Woodward

“Wrapped in a bundle of life with God…” (I Samuel 25:29)

These words of Scripture can be found inscribed on the gravestones of children who died at a very early age.   This is especially true in a Jewish cemetery because Jewish mothers believed they expressed the almost inexpressible feelings in their hearts as they laid their children to rest in that cemetery.

We could inscribe those words on the gravestones of our children and adult loved ones as well because they should bring great comfort and consolation to us as we think of those we have lost through sickness and death.  However, if we will think about it, these words should also be applied to our loved ones while they are living.  The most exciting truth in the New Testament is presented in just two words: “In Christ” or “In Him”.

Jesus told the apostles that after His death and resurrection He was going to give them the divine presence of the Holy Spirit.  They would then be able to be “in Him” the way a branch is in a vine.   That means all of us can be wrapped in a bundle of life with Christ as we live our lives in this world.  What an exciting concept!  Jesus told the apostles, and you and me, all about this in the fifteenth chapter of the Gospel of John.  He even told us how to abide in Him and experience the miracle of Him abiding in us.  He told us we can abide in Him and He will abide in us if we abide in His Word.

I challenge you that if you abide in His Word today you will find yourself wrapped in a bundle of life with God!