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GOD ACTS WE REACT We are naturally prone to
compromise this principle fact in our minds without realizing it. We advertise to others how God is
all-powerful, but we harbor the thought that He is waiting for us to do
something, to serve Him in some way. In
our daily lives, we punish ourselves about the things we should have done and
did not do and the things we did out of selfish desire. We are consistently looking for some reward
or blessing because of our efforts and, at the same time, secretly expecting
some punishment for those selfish actions already committed. In our hearts, in our basic beliefs, we
expect God to react to our actions. We
think of God as a disciplinarian, a drill sergeant, and a judge waiting for
us to do the wrong thing. We are taught,
from early childhood, that we must decide, we must serve, we must be
responsible, and we must love before we can have a proper relationship with
God. We are being misled, in all of
this, by much of our teachings that are so available in the wisdom of this
world. The Holy Scriptures tell us
something entirely different from those lessons we have always been taught
all of our lives. The following are
some selected verses that are given to us to help us in discovering the truth
about who God really is and the way He works with us. He is training us in His way for our good
[Romans “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall
not be in want. He makes me lie down
in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's
sake” [Psalms 23:1-3]. “Show me your ways, O LORD, teach
me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my
Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of
old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love
remember me, for you are good, O LORD.
Good and upright is the LORD; therefore, he instructs sinners in his
ways. He guides the humble in what is
right and teaches them his way.”
[Psalms 25:4-9] “I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which
have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will
not come to you. Many are the woes of
the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in
him.” [Psalms 32:8-10] “When my heart was grieved and my
spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before
you. Yet I am
always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with
your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in
heaven but you? And
earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.” [Psalms
73:21-26] “Your word is a lamp to my feet and
a light for my path.” [Psalms 119:105] “My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of
the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of
them came to be.” [Psalms 139:15, 16] “Search me, O God, and know my
heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way
everlasting.” [Psalms 139:23-24] “Teach me to do your will, for you
are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” [Psalms 143:10] “Whether you turn to the right or
to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is
the way; walk in it." [Isaiah
30:21] “See, the Sovereign LORD comes with
power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his
recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like
a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his
heart; he gently leads those that have young” [Isaiah 40:10-11]. “I will lead the blind by ways they
have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the
darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them”
[Isaiah 42:16]. This is what the LORD says-- your Redeemer, the Holy One of “… to give his people the knowledge
of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender
mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to
shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our
feet into the path of peace" [Luke 1:77-79]. “My sheep listen to my voice; I
know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no
one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all;
no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one." [John 10:27-30] “But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything I have said to you.” [John 14:26] "When the Counselor comes,
whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out
from the Father, he will testify about me.”
[John 15:26] “In him we were also chosen, having
been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in
conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first
to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who
is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who
are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.” [Ephesians 1:11-14] “It is God who works in you to will
and to act according to his good purpose.”
[Philippians 2:13] “He is before all things, and in him
all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the
beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he
might have the supremacy. [Colossians
1:17, 18] “As for you, the anointing you
received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all
things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught
you, remain in him.” [1 John 2:27] |