One of the dire needs that Christians have is to feast and meditate upon the truths of God’s Word that are given to us in a worship service setting. It is common for a believer to be listening attentively, devouring the truths of God’s Word, but then to promptly forget what was said as soon as the final “Amen” is spoken and the other cares of life quickly reenter the picture.
Understanding this own need in my own life, I try to make a habit of taking notes that can be reflected upon later. Another thing that I believe would be helpful is to discuss what the Lord has taught us or reminded us of when His Word is shared. With that thought in mind, I would like to encourage a regular reflection upon the preached Word of God here at this blog. This does not mean that every sermon needs to be completely rehashed or even mentioned, but it is a call for us to meditate on what we have heard so that we might not soon forget what God is seeking to teach us. This is another area that I trust will not be something that is confined to this blog, but that will reach the lunch table, sidewalk, etc.
This previous Sunday morning, Pastor Schaal’s insight on the sovereignty of God in the episode in Elijah’s life recorded in 1 Kings 17 was a wonderful reminder to me concerning the depth of God’s sovereignty. Specifically concerning vv. 3-7, this statement jumped out at me: “God’s hand is in both the provision and the lack of provision.” What a concept to meditate upon! Elijah was in God’s will, both when the brook was flowing and when it had dried!
Sometimes, God’s sovereignty is something that Christians “deal with” instead of rejoice in. What a shame! Elijah learned so much about his God through that episode that I am sure he never forgot. I hope that you and I will not forget that truth either. Your view of God has a significant impact on how you view you current situation, whether it be “good” or “bad.”
For further study on this subject, I would highly recommend that you purchase and read Not By Chance: Learning to Trust a Sovereign God by Layton Talbert, a seminary professor at Bob Jones University. It may be the best book outside of the Bible that I have ever read. I believe it is currently available in the church bookstore, and if it is not, it can be ordered.
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2 comments:
You have some great points, Pastor James. Pastor Schaal's message Sunday was soo good. I was just reminded to trust God and obey Him even when there is a lot of change in life and things seem uncomfortable. God is good and sovereign through all of it, not just the parts we "like". He said that, "our faith in God's goodness has to be nurtured constantly." Like the song says, my heart it "prone to wander," and I need to be bringing myself back again and again to what is true about God and meditating on His character.
Thanks for the reminder about reviewing old sermon notes. I take sermon notes a lot, but I don't read over them much.
I do have to say that most of the points came from Pastor Schaal.
I thought it was interesting that you said we are to "trust and obey." I think I said this once in youth group, but Jay Adams' commentary on the book of 1 Peter is entitled "Trust and Obey," which I think is a neat way of summarizing the contents of that book.
Isn't it interesting that the more you study in various passages of Scripture, the more overlap in themes there seems to be, no matter when a particular book of the Bible was written. Here we are, talking about Elijah in 1 Kings, and yet, one of the themes is still the same as that in 1 Peter, written many years later and after the cross. And while there are themes in 1 Kings that are not in 1 Peter and vice versa, it is still interesting to see God hammer home certain points to us throughout Scripture. I think that is why Dr. Talbert had so many passages in Scripture with which to work when he wrote his book.
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