Sitting Idly By

By Brenda Williams

Hebrews 10:37-39 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Christ is coming without delay; we who are righteous live by faith until then and do not shrink back.

Here the author gives every believing heart a lift, encouraging us with the immediacy and urgency of our faith: Christ IS coming, he is coming SOON, and we are NOT to be faint of heart, NOT to “shrink back” -- from persecution, from ridicule, from challenge, from our tasks, or from our own doubts. Meet them head on, or He will be displeased with us!

He “will not delay,” it says. That gives me hope that though I await his return and wonder, Christ is not sitting there idly waiting. He is actively engaged in God’s plan, and will arrive in a little while when all is ready. There is no delay -- he will come right on time. And the time is God’s to determine. And we should be doing the same. Take heart and be encouraged to know that Christ is preparing and we are to be working hard as well.

Father, help me to trust in your timing, in your return, and to be engaged in the business at hand while we await your return.

The Will of God

by Billy Williams

Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. (Heb 11:1 GWT)

Doing the will of God. The ultimate goal of all Christians should be just that - God's will. But what is God's will for our lives? We know the easy answers to this question: to love God, seek the kingdom, make disciples. Getting more specific seems to be the problem. What kind of job does God want me to have? What dreams and aspirations in my life should I seek out and which should I let go? How do I know for sure what God wants me to do? The answer is, we don't. If God laid out every move that we are to make like a road map in front of us, there would be no need for faith.

We get so caught up in knowing the exact will of God that we become paralyzed, unable to make a move toward a dream or goal because we fear it might not be the move that God wants us to make. We choose to stand still when God wants us to move ahead, trusting (having faith) that He is in control. Doing God's will is desiring God's will. We should be willing to move ahead with reckless abandon seeking God's guidance and provision. If we do this, we are within the safety net of God's plan for our life. If we set out to accomplish a goal and our game plan is to trust God in every aspect, He will surely not let us go astray. Not to say that we will not experience failures and stops along the way. What we consider failure today might be God's success tomorrow - a way for God to fine tune our course. It is a great privilege to be able to live life knowing that we have the wisdom and assets of the Creator of it all. How can anything seem out of reach?

Heavenly Father, help me today to know that you guide my steps. Make me bold in my dreams and confident in my decisions. Bless the roads that I choose and in all things bring glory to Your name. Amen

Damned

by Billy Williams

Luke 13:5 (MSG) ...Unless you turn to God, you, too, will die."

I don’t like reading these words, especially since they were spoken by Jesus. The Bible is supposed to be full of light, hope and great children's stories, isn’t it? Coats of many colors, giant boats filled to the brim with happy animals -- a kind of floating zoo -- cute childlike angels, babies in starlit mangers with big-eyed animals and shepherds looking on. Not death, not actual dependence on God for life.

But truth is truth, no matter how hard it seems, and the thing about this verse is it is not talking about physical death but something much worse -- spiritual death. Physical death is inescapable; spiritual death is a choice. In this we practice God’s greatest gift: free will. We have the choice to turn to God and avoid the death Jesus is referring to. I also think that even after turning to God and receiving His eternal life, we can still die a little each day in our spirit life if we don’t continue to turn to Him. We can let sin and life take small bites of our spiritual life and keep it from being totally alive in Him.

God, thank you for the choice to turn to You for my salvation and life. Keep my face toward You in my daily life, also; don’t let me be robbed of the life You have for me here on earth.

Confidence

by Billy Williams
Psalm 23 (KJV)
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.



I remember having to memorize this chapter in Psalms in 7th grade English. What is more amazing than me actually memorizing something is that I attended a public school. This was in the days before the life-giving words of God were considered offensive. King David had such a wonderful grasp on who God is and even though David had done things that would most surely get most of us asked to leave the local church, he knew the unfailing love and care God had for him despite his failings and sinful nature.

A quick look at the Psalm and we know clearly how David knew God -- as Guide, Comfort and Rest, Restorer, Righteous Lord, Protector and Provider. He knew that God lifted him to a place of wealth in front of his enemies, covered his sin, lavished blessings on him, was merciful, good and would never disown him. I feel in my own walk that to claim these things from God for myself is vanity. I need to remember what David knew in his very soul, that we are all sinner-saints.

God, help me to grasp these things as mine. Give me a confidence that You love and care for me in the exact same way You did King David. Be my Shepherd.

Barriers

by billy Williams

Psalm 8:1,2(MSG) 1 God, brilliant Lord, yours is a household name. 2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you; toddlers shout the songs That drown out enemy talk, and silence atheist babble.

My mother always told me that when a baby is cooing and making the noises that babies do, they were talking to God and here it is in scripture. There is something so innocent and yet so unfathomably large when it comes to the faith of a child. When and why do we lose it? At what point do we begin to believe our own criterion of truth and lose the innocent joy of knowing our Creator without prejudice?

To really know God as “Brilliant Lord” and for His name to be a household name, spoken with an innocent and truly unscathed heart like that of a child, should be my daily goal -- to set aside what I think I should say and let my heart and mind embrace who God, as I knew Him at birth, really is.

Heavenly Father, remove the barriers that time and life have built between us. Grant me the great freedom of conversing with You with the intimacy of a child. Allow my heart’s song to rise above the talk of Your enemies and silence the voices of those who would count You as untrue.

These Two Things

by Billy Williams
Genesis 1:1,2 (MSG)

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

I love this verse, I always have. I love the way it is written -- no explanation of where God came from, no long dissertation on existence, just this: God created the heavens and the earth, period. A few months ago I heard a new take on this verse. The lead singer from Switchfoot posed this question to an interviewer: “What is the very first thing we know about God? Is it that He is holy? Is it that He is just and merciful or that He is all powerful? No, the first thing we know about God is that He is creative. “First this: God created...” I love that! The second thing we learn is that God is a protector. God’s Spirit brooded (verb; 2 To protect (young) by or as if by covering with the wings) like a bird above the watery abyss.

Here in the first three sentences of God’s Word His deep character is revealed as our loving, protecting Creator. And I, created in His image, have these attributes breathed into me, to create and to protect, or brood over, the things that God cares for.

Father, let me be always reminded of Your wonderful creativity. Let me see You in the simple and the complex of my day. Remind me that You are protective of me as Your creation and You still brood over the entire of creation.

What Do You Think?

by Billy Williams

Matthew 26:66 (NIV) “...What do you think?" "He is worthy of death," they answered.

I find it interesting that the scripture says “He” is worthy of death, not his “offense” is punishable by death. They had left the reason of the law and had made Christ Himself the offense. The question I have for myself is, “Is He worthy of death?” I would have to respond, “Yes!”



Note that the question is not does He deserve death; it is a question of His worthiness. Without knowing, His accusers attested to the fact He alone was worthy -- though I am sure they did not understand the depth of their indictment. I struggle with the fact Christ had to endure punishment and death to reunite me with God the Father, yet I know this sacrifice was necessary and it really doesn’t have to make sense for me to believe in the worthiness of Christ to cover my sins by his death. 1 Corinthians 1:18,23-24 says, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 23 ...but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.”


God, thank You for the gift of Your Son. Thank You that You do find Him worthy of death, my death, so that I can live with You in eternity.