Did you take out time to seek THE LORD today?
Did you stop long enough to find out what your assignment is for today?
Have you gotten your instructions for the day?
Oh, so you are just going to work today.
And you know what you have to do once you get there, so you don’t think that
you need to take time out to get with GOD today.
Or maybe you just didn’t have time today.
REALLY?
Don’t you know that no matter where you work or what you do for a living, GOD has
called you to do a work for HIM?
Yes, even on your job!!!
Did you know that as you drive to work today, there will be a young mother with
her 3 babies stuck on the side of the road?
Did you know that just 10 minutes before you get to them, her car will
have run out of gas? Did you know that
she ONLY has 5 dollars in the pocket of her worn out jeans? And she needs to get gas and feed her kids.
Did you know that when GOD told you to go fill up that huge old gas jug
yesterday afternoon and put it in the back of your truck, it was for her?
Did you stop to find out that GOD wants you to put gas in her car and then go
with her and fill up her tank? Did you
know that HE wants you to give her that 50 bill that you keep tucked in the back
of your wallet? You know, for
emergencies!!!
Did you know that GOD had you put those old rags behind the seat in your truck
because you’ll need them? HE was
watching over you because HE knew that you wouldn’t want to get gas on your
clothes!!! And HE wanted you to be able
to wipe the gas off the side of her car, once you poured that gas in her
tank.
Did you take out time to be with GOD today?
Cause if you did, you would know that she doesn’t have money to buy
groceries to feed her kids. Her boy
friend ran out on her last night and he won’t be back. He took all the money that they had. Did you know, that if she hadn’t found that 5
dollars in her pocket, she would be flat broke?
Did you know that she has been crying out to GOD? Did you know that she has been praying to GOD
for the first time in years? Did you
know that she was just trying to make it to the gas station, so she can go to
the food bank and get some food for her kids?
Did you know that her frig and pantry are empty?
Did you know that her eyes are swollen because she has cried all night long
wondering what she was going to do? Did
you know that today, GOD wants you to show her that HE LOVES HER?
It may seem to be a simple thing to go get gas or to go to the grocery store,
or even to just go to church on Sunday morning or Sunday night!!!
But we have to stop whatever we are doing and we have to seek GOD!!!
Before we go out of our house each day, we need to sit down with GOD!!! This may sound really simple, but it is so
very important!!!
No matter what GOD has called us to do, we have to seek HIM!!!
No matter what we are planning to do, we’ve still got to ask GOD how HE wants
us to do it!!! And it isn’t ONLY that!!!
We have to know exactly what GOD
wants us to do at ALL TIMES!!! We have
to seek HIS WISDOM and HIS UNDERSTANDING in ALL THINGS!!!
We have to seek HIM to find out the answer to these questions!!! What? When?
Where? How?
And yes, even, Who?
You know, today could be the most blessed day of your life!!!
I’ve told this before, but one Sunday morning (in the fall of the year, I
think) GOD woke me up early, so I got up and got ready for church. I was already dressed and I had my Bible and
purse in my hands. I was all decked out
in some of my good church clothes!!! All
I needed to know was where GOD was sending me that day!!!
I paused and said, Well GOD, where do you want me to go today? And as I stood there waiting to find out
where I was going that morning, GOD said, Just sit down. So, I sat down in my chair and I opened up my
Bible.
As I sat there waiting on GOD to tell me where I was going that morning, the
scent of a skunk creeped in through the open window. Evidently, as I sat there patiently, I missed
the skunk that was in my front yard!!!
And I didn’t ruin my good clothes-my CHURCH CLOTHES!!! I didn’t get skunk spray in my eyes, or in my
nose, or in my mouth!!! And THANK GOD, I
didn’t get skunk spray in my hair!!!
Because GOD had been watching over me, I had been sitting in my chair
while the skunk had been in my front yard!!!
You know, I remember a day many, many years ago, that I had gotten in the car
with a really nice girl who was going to take me home from college when the
person I was supposed to ride home with left me!!! She had to go home first and that was fine
with me!!! If she didn’t take me home,
my mother was going to have to come get me, so I got in the car with her.
We headed out, and when we had traveled several blocks away from the school, I
had my first experience with THE HOLY SPIRIT, ever!!! My stomach started doing flip flops!!! My PEACE completely left me!!!
I had absolutely no idea what all this meant, but I knew one thing!!! I couldn’t ride with that girl that
day!!! I had to tell her to stop the car
and let me out!!! I told her that I
would walk back to the main building and call my mother, but that I had to get
out of that car!!!
She was really nice and she said that it was okay, then she took me back to the
main building. I have no idea what would
have happened to the 2 of us that day, if she had NOT have taken me back to the
campus, but I can tell you that it wouldn’t have been good!!!
The next day, she said nothing happened to her on the way home, but you know,
because she turned around and took me back, she was NOT going down that road at
the same time that we had started out!!!
I was thinking about this, and I truly believe that GOD saved us both
from some awful event that day!!!
When she turned around and took me back that day, she delayed her trip at least
10 minutes, maybe even 15-20 minutes!!!
That made a difference in the time that she would have been going down
that road!!! That changed what would
have happened!!! She and I both had
missed whatever bad thing the devil had planned for us!!! Maybe she will read what I am writing today,
and she will remember that this happened!!!
Maybe that young lady is alive and well today because she offered a ride to a young
girl from a small town one day after college classes!!! Maybe she is alive and has grandkids now because
she turned around and took that same young girl back to East Texas State University
in Commerce, TX because that girl’s stomach started doing flip flops!!!!
Maybe she is alive and well today and serving GOD, because a young girl met THE
LORD when she was in high school and had HIS HOLY SPIRIT living inside of her,
even though she didn’t know it.
You know, it was years before I knew what had happened to me that day!!! Many years went by before I knew that MY
PEACE had left me that day!!! Many years
went by before I had any idea that the flip flopping in my stomach that day was
THE HOLY GHOST telling me NOT to ride with that girl to Greenville!!!
At that time, I didn’t even know anything about GOD, THE HOLY GHOST. I had heard HIM mentioned in church, but they
never taught about HIM and no had ever explained to me that THE HOLY SPIRIT would
lead and guide me into ALL TRUTH!!! John
16:13 (KJV)
I was just a college kid going back and forth to school. I had met Jesus at a Baptist Children’s Camp a
couple of summers before!!!
I had no idea that when I accepted CHRIST as MY SAVIOR, I had also received THE
SPIRIT OF GOD and HE had been dwelling inside of me from that time on!!! I had no idea that I had received the great
gift of THE HOLY SPIRIT!!! But I can
tell you right now, that I sure am glad that I did!!!
You know, I am just like many other folks.
I get busy at times and I do NOT stop to spend time with GOD!!! This evening, as I was getting ready for
church, I was also trying to get a bite to eat before I left. I knew that I needed to sit down with THE
LORD before I left, but I kept putting it off.
And finally, even though I knew better, I headed out the door without
stopping long enough to just sit down and spend some time with HIM!!!
I got less than 2 blocks down the road before my stomach knotted up!!! (This doesn't happen all the time, and when it does, I take notice!!!) So, I turned around and came home!!! I came in and sat down and got my Bible out. I sat here and flipped through the pages with
all sorts of things racing through my mind.
Finally, when I got my mind quietened down, GOD reminded me that the woman of
GOD had preached about King David and the ark of GOD on Friday night at the
revival.
I looked until I found this passage in my Bible and I began to read. I am familiar with this passage because I
have read it before. However, as I read
it again this evening, I was struck with how important it is for each of us to
make sure that we talk to GOD about every thing that we plan to do, even when
we are doing it for THE LORD!!!
Let’s look at this passage now. If you
want to read it in your Bible, it is 1 Chronicles, Chapter 13.
David had been made king over
all of Israel
after the death of Saul.
1 Chronicles 12:38 (KJV) All these
men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make
David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart
to make David king.
David consulted with all of the captains and all the leaders about bringing the
ark of THE LORD to the city of David. All the people agreed that this was a good
idea, but no one including David consulted GOD about it!!!
1 Chronicles 13:1-4 (KJV)
1 And David consulted with the captains of thousands and
hundreds, and with every leader.
2 And David said unto all the
congregation of Israel, If it seem good unto you, and that it be of the Lord our God, let us send abroad unto our brethren every where,
that are left in all the land of Israel, and with them also to the priests and
Levites which are in their cities and suburbs, that they may gather themselves
unto us:
3 And let us bring again the
ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.
4 And all the congregation
said that they would do so: for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
David’s intentions were good and honorable, but he didn’t go to GOD and
ask if they should bring the ark home.
He didn’t ask GOD what they should do or how they should do it. David evidently thought because what he was
doing seemed right, that it would also seem right to GOD!!! So, he didn’t seek THE LORD!!!
David gathered all of the children of Israel and they went to get the
ark. Instead of seeking GOD or the
advice of the priests about transporting the ark of GOD, they placed it on a
new cart to bring it home to the city of David.
1 Chronicles 13:5-7 (KJV)
5 So David gathered all Israel
together, from Shihor of Egypt
even unto the entering of Hemath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjathjearim.
6 And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, that is, to
Kirjathjearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up thence the ark of God the Lord, that dwelleth between the cherubims, whose name is called
on it.
7 And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the
house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart.
They celebrated and praised GOD as they moved the ark.
1 Chronicles 13:8 (KJV) And David
and all Israel
played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and
with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.
Unfortunately, they were NOT carrying the ark as GOD had instructed, and one of
the oxen pulling the cart stumbled. When
Uzza saw the oxen stumble, he reached out his hand to steady the ark and
because he touched it, GOD became very angry and struck him, so that HE
died. This displeased David!!!
1 Chronicles 13:9-11 (KJV)
9 And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza
put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.
10 And the anger of the Lord was
kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and
there he died before God.
11 And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza: wherefore that place is called
Perezuzza to this day.
On that day, David feared GOD and he realized that he should have asked
THE LORD what to do to bring the ark home!!!
And because David feared THE LORD, he decided that they should NOT
continue in what they were doing. He
decided to turn aside and leave the ark in the care of a man named Obed-Edom.
1 Chronicles 13:12-14 (KJV)
12 And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I
bring the ark of God home to me?
13 So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it
aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite.
14 And the ark of God remained with the family of Obededom in
his house three months. And the Lord blessed
the house of Obededom, and all that he had.
King David wanted to please GOD, but he didn’t ask GOD what he should do to
please HIM!!! He did as many of us do
and he made plans without consulting GOD!!!
He did NOT take his plans to
GOD!!!
After we make our plans, we should always take them
to GOD and seek confirmation or redirection from HIM.
IF ONLY DAVID HAD TAKEN TIME TO SEEK THE LORD!!!
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