God's Way

God’s Way

Rev. M.D .Rogers

 

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.” [This is] the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”—Isaiah 55:8–9

 

God’s ways are not our ways. When you try to understand how God does things, from a human perspective, it never adds up. Look in the Bible. Did it make sense to Abraham or Sarah when God told them they would have a son in their old age? No, Sarah laughed at God! How do you think Noah felt when God told him to build a huge boat so that he and his family would survive the coming flood? Or Gideon, watching his army dwindle from tens of thousands to only 300,fwhile told by God they would defeat thousands of Midianite soldiers. And of course, Jesus’ disciples must have been pretty confused and scared as they watched their Messiah crucified outside of Jerusalem.

 

So, when you feel God leading you to do something, or if you seem to be up against an insurmountable obstacle in your life… remember that God’s Ways are Not Our Ways. Trust in Him, and remember Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Rarely does God do something exactly as we think He will. Our problem is that we try to second-guess God, saying, “Oh, now I know what God is planning to do!” Moses experienced this as he learned how God was going to deliver the Hebrews out of Egypt. God told him He would harden Pharaoh's heart. Yet, the result was not what Moses anticipated. Rather than allowing the Hebrews to leave, Pharaoh increased their hardship. Rather than becoming a hero among the Hebrews, Moses was despised by them for bringing greater suffering. Moses returned to the Lord and asked, “Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me?”(Exod. 5:22).

Much of the frustration we experience as Christians has nothing to do with what God does or doesn't do. It has everything to do, rather, with the false assumptions we make about how we think God will and should act.

Have you ever done the will of God and then things seemed to become worse? Moses completely misunderstood what the results of His obedience to God would be. When things did not turn out as he anticipated, Moses became discouraged. God had told Moses what to do, but He had not told Moses what the consequences would be.

It is foolish to attempt to do God's work using your own “common sense.” God does not eliminate your common sense, He consecrates it. He gives you His wisdom so you can understand His ways.

As you look back on God's activity in your life, you will recognize the supreme wisdom in how He has led you. As you look forward to what God may do, be careful you do not try to predict what He will do next. You may find yourself completely off the mark.

 

Followers of Christ

Rev. M.D. Rogers

As followers of Christ, we strive to live in a way that visibly attests to the work of God in our lives. Yet it’s easy to feel timid or reluctant about displaying our faith—especially if we’ve failed before. Abram knew what it was like to fail in trusting God fully. In Genesis 12, he acted out of fear and self-preservation in the face of danger instead of trusting in God’s promise (Gen 12:10–20). Yet God remained faithful to him. In Genesis 14, when Abram learned that his nephew was in danger, he didn’t hesitate to act. Emboldened by God’s promise, Abram confidently set his eyes on the armies of the Mesopotamian kings, and with his band of trained men, he took down an army of giants.
Our past failures or lapses of faith do not prevent God from using us to accomplish great things, whether in witnessing to His work in our lives or defeating armies of giants (see Psa 118:6; Rom 8:31). Abram’s life shows us that God can and will use us despite our weaknesses and failures (see 1 Cor 1:26–31). This encourages us, like the Apostle Paul, to recognize that God’s grace is sufficient and that His power is made evident through our weakness (2 Cor 12:9).
In Colossians 3:17, Paul wrote, “whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (ESV). Paul recognized that when we live out our faith, others notice—and they benefit from our efforts. This was true in Abram’s life: The Canaanite priest-king Melchizedek recognized Abram’s courage and, more importantly, God’s hand in Abram’s victory. Our faith should not only affect us, it should affect those around us as we respond to God’s call to live as disciples of Christ (see Col 3:12–15).
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The Stench of Moralism

The Stench of Moralism
Rev. M. D. Rogers

Another mark of the moral-performance narrative is a constant need to find
fault, win arguments, and prove that all opponents are not just mistaken but
dishonest sellouts. However, when the gospel is deeply grasped, our need to win
arguments is removed, and our language becomes gracious. We don't have to
ridicule our opponents, but instead we can engage them respectfully.
People who live in the moral-performance narrative use sarcastic, self-righteous
putdown humor, or have no sense of humor at all. Lewis speaks of "the unsmiling
concentration upon Self, which is the mark of hell." The gospel, however,
creates a gentle sense of irony. We find a lot to laugh at, starting with our
own weaknesses. They don't threaten us anymore because our ultimate worth is not
based on our record or performance.

Martin Luther had the basic insight that moralism is the default mode of the
human heart. Even Christians who believe the gospel of grace on one level can
continue to operate as if they have been saved by their works. In "The Great
Sin" in Mere Christianity, Lewis writes, "If we find that our religious life is
making us feel that we are good—above all, that we are better than someone
else—I think we may be sure that we are being acted on, not by God, but by the
Devil."

Gracious, self-forgetful humility should be one of the primary things that
distinguishes Christian believers from the many other types of moral, decent
people in the world. But I think it is fair to say that humility, which is a key
differentiating mark of the Christian, is largely missing in the church.
Nonbelievers, detecting the stench of sanctimony, turn away.
Some will say, "Phariseeism and moralism are not our culture's big problems
right now.

Our problems are license and antinomianism. There is no need to talk
about grace all the time to postmodern people." But postmodern people have been
rejecting Christianity for years, thinking that it was indistinguishable from
moralism. Only if you show them there's a difference—that what they rejected
wasn't real Christianity—will they even begin to listen again.

 The problem is too big for practical solutions. The wing of the
evangelical church that is most concerned about the loss of truth and about
compromise is actually infamous in our culture for its self-righteousness and
pride.

Think Outside of Self - by Rev.M.D. Rogers

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
—Isaiah 58:7

We can sometimes become so enmeshed in the affairs of our own lives that we actually forget that we share this earthly life with others. Then, at the most inopportune moment, one of those “others” wants to share their hunger with us, or lament the poverty of their spirit, or be supported because they are drooping with weakness, and we just want them to go away.

It happens when we are rushing our children to daycare, or trying to make an early morning meeting, or answering an important call on our cell phone, or sitting on a bench in silence because we have lost someone we love. We have enough going on in our own lives we tell ourselves; we can't possibly stretch in one more direction.

Surprisingly, that interruption from the hungry, the poor, and the vulnerable can be a great gift to us. It jolts us out of our own self-absorption, and we are forced to recognize that we are not the center of the universe. In fact, our pain is the pain of others, our weakness is the weakness of others, our hunger and poverty are the hunger and poverty of others. We are together in this enterprise of life.

The abrupt and unwelcome interruption helps us realize that we cannot hide ourselves from those who share life with us. We begin to see how important it is for us to step aside from the struggles that consume us and enter into the struggle of all humanity.

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The Will of Man- Rev. M. D. Rogers

2 TIMOTHY 2:11

There is something peculiarly deserving of notice in this expression. It throws light on a mysterious subject, and one which is often darkened by human explanations. It shows that Christ has feelings of pity and mercy for many who are not saved, and that the grand secret of man's ruin is his want of will. Impotent as man is by nature,--unable to think a good thought of himself,--without power to turn himself to faith and calling upon God,--he still appears to have a mighty ability to ruin his own soul. Powerless as he is to good, he is still powerful to evil. We say rightly that a man can do nothing of himself, but we must always remember that the seat of impotence is his will. A will to repent and believe no man can give himself, but a will to reject Christ and have his own way, every man possesses by nature, and if not saved at last, that will shall prove to have been his destruction.