To: The Cities That Have Ears To Hear
Continuing in the "It's Already Done" theme.
Romans 11 (NLT)
³²For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone. ³³Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! ³⁴For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice? ³⁵And who has given Him so much that He needs to pay it back?
Continuing in the "It's Already Done" theme.
Romans 11 (NLT)
³²For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone. ³³Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! ³⁴For who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice? ³⁵And who has given Him so much that He needs to pay it back?
³⁶For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.
So, God holds us captive in our own disobedience? That's just strange. It doesn't sound very gracious at all. Exactly!
Good grief, Romans Ch. 9, and now this; Whew! Does God even really love us? Seems like He's just messing with us, doesn't it? Yes, of course God loves us. But, He is God, with or without us. Read v.36 again: It captures the essence of God's preeminence. Even so, do not be deceived, though preeminent, God has not only given man free will, He has likewise bound him in the disobedience that was chosen when Jesus was rejected. Therefore, man certainly has the ability to interfere in prophetic processes. Howbeit, that ability does not prove his correctness, it's simply fulfills Jesus's prophecy of the rejection and dishonor that His prophets would encounter. My hometown's anger towards me and rebellious accusation against me, is that my prophetic gift is being misused, because it does not serve her purpose. It's not meant to. Just as my gift isn’t about me, neither is it about my hometown. My gift serves God’s purpose. All glory and honor belongs to Him. I don't mean to sound harsh. But, this is where the *5th Ward comes out. "Shut up clay! And just repent already."
Isaiah 30:15 (KJV)
For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; “In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”
Indeed, vocal quietness serves its purpose; but, the aforementioned scripture first and foremost refers to spiritual submission. Man's "do it yourself mindset” is not only deafening in God's ear, it defeats its own purpose. Therefore, above all things, we must be quiet in spirit. God's commanded quietness is to "Be still and know." Likewise, confidence is not walking with your nose in the air and your chest stuck out. That's arrogance; "Chasing after the wind." Remember, all things scriptural are rooted in the spirit. Therefore, confidence translated is simply to "put your trust in God."
In short: Quietness is to walk away from your own plans in spiritual surrender to God's instructions. That says, "LORD, I trust You." Surrender, automatically places you in the winners circle. But, where there is neither spiritual nor physical quietness, chaos ensues.
Advice for a city when tested:
- Don't try to prove that your way is right: That would mean that God's way is wrong.
- Don't try to impress God with good deeds: The spirit must first be right. Begrudged deeds can be worse than no deeds at all. You can’t impress God; but, you can honor Him by surrendering to His process.
- Don't try to trick Him with pious approach to His statutes: He knows when it's motivated by self-serving greed.
- Don't point the finger at the ones you victimize: God knows the back-story.
- Don't interfere in His process: The latter cost is always greater.
- Don't be so busy rolling against others that you roll past God. In fact, don't roll at all, let the Holy Ghost roll.
God's "To Do" list:
- Surrender
If your counsel's "To Do" list is longer than God's, "DON’T".
Look, I get it. For most of my life, my back was turned to God as well. I was by no means seeking Him. But, in realizing that without Him, I was fighting a losing battle against sin and guilt, I decided to simply trust Him. Through repentance, I surrendered to His powerful offer of grace and mercy, which immediately canceled my guilt and shame. The same grace and mercy is available for everyone, through repentance. Stop fighting Him. Yes, it sounds absurd, but victory comes through surrender.
Why does God do things like this? Here we go again. Slow your roll clay. Read it again. "For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so He could have mercy on everyone."
Why that's just backwards...
LORD, I trust you
Despise not prophesyings
Despise not prophesyings
Thank You LORD
Recommended Reading: Romans Chapters 9-11 (NLT, for understanding)
My suggestion is that you make Romans 11:36 part of your daily prayer.
*5th Ward = "Straight forward;" "straight; no chaser;" "raw"
