How Do I Know When God is Speaking to Me? 5/14/14

Good Morning,

I am starting today with a hot cup of Door County Peanut Butter Crunch Coffee. I feel the need for it to be very hot today and have steam rising from the cup.

Many people go through life as Christians and are bored. They go to church, feel entertained or fed spiritually and they pray. Many of these same people read their Bibles. But yet they seem  bored with their Christian walk. If I could listen in on their prayers I bet I would hear things like, "Heavenly Father please heal Uncle Joe, help me to find the job you want me to have. ( This assumes God wants you to have a job). And then they end with in Jesus name I pray amen". Then they go to bed and God never received a chance to answer. The Scripture below tells us to expect God to speak.

Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

³ ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

 

But how do we know when God is speaking?

 

1. What does the Bible say?
As followers of Christ, we believe that the Bible is God’s Word. All truth is God’s truth, certainly. But, any direction attributed to God must square up with God’s Word. God isn’t going to contradict Himself. That wouldn’t make any sense.
Let’s say your group member feels closest to God in nature, so he feels led to quit his job and spend more time seeking God out in the woods. The problem is that he’s not independently wealthy and isn’t ready to retire. His wife will have to carry the load of the family finances. She hasn’t worked outside of the home for years, and he would basically expect her to do everything she’s doing now, plus provide the total family income. This may seem farfetched, but in over 20 years of ministry, I’ve heard some doozies. This one is hypothetical, however.
While it may seem spiritual to connect with God in a peaceful place, it’s also spiritual to provide for the needs of your family. If you don’t, you’re worse than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8, KJV). When God’s leading conveniently confirms our own desires and violates God’s word, then we must question whether the person has actually heard from God.
This is just a silly example, but I’ve heard of people feeling led to leave their spouse, stop paying their taxes, stop giving to the church, buy a new car, drill an oil well in a specific spot – you name it. While God does speak to us, the primary way He speaks is through His Word. If what they are hearing doesn’t line up with Scripture, then they need to listen again.
2. How does it line up with other circumstances?
Sometimes people feel a leading from God to escape a problem. I believe that we should allow God to help us work through problems. We come out better people on the other side. “But, my wife just left me. It’s the perfect time for me to go to the mission field.” Not so fast there, buddy.   Divorce is one of the highest stressors there is. (And we didn’t need a stress test to tell us that). If you add leaving your home, friends, and your church to taking on a new job, a new culture, a new climate, a new language, and so on, not to mention the spiritual toll of divorce, it’s the recipe for disaster.
But, sometimes the circumstances line up. When the person is not in the middle of a problem, when they feel a leading and finances line up, and the house sells, and the spouse agrees, God’s plan just might be coming together.
3. Has the person sought godly counsel?
Who has the person consulted on this leading? Have they talked to mature believers and pastors who will ask the hard questions and tell them the truth? Or, have they just sought out people who would easily agree with them? Every believer needs people in their lives who love them, but aren’t impressed with them.
They shouldn’t be in a hurry for quick affirmation. It’s important to ask others to discuss the potential leading and to pray with them. God often uses others to confirm a leading.

I hope this helps,

Listen, God is speaking,

Marty

 

Family Troubles. You have To Deal With Them. 5/13/14

Good Morning,

After a long night of storms in Wisconsin I am looking forward to that first cup of Door County Mocha Mint Coffee. The sky was pretty noisy last night.

This last winter left it's mark on our home. As I continue to recover from the winter I keep finding things that need repair. My next project is to re-mortar the field stone flower garden back together. The frost was so deep that it caused the soil to heave and spilt the stone walls. No way will they be able to hold together and produce a flower garden without falling apart and having the soil run away with the next rain. It needs to be fixed!

Families are a lot like winter damage. Once we find an issue we need to act on it and correct it before the issue gets worse and causes damage beyond repair.  This devotional is quite long today. But aren't our families worth the time? God requires us to raise our families according to His standards.

1 Samuel 2:12-36 (NIV)

Eli’s Wicked Sons

¹² Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord. ¹³ Now it was the practice of the priests that, whenever any of the people offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged fork in his hand while the meat was being boiled ¹⁴ and would plunge the fork into the pan or kettle or caldron or pot. Whatever the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh. ¹⁵ But even before the fat was burned, the priest’s servant would come and say to the person who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast; he won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”
¹⁶ If the person said to him, “Let the fat be burned first, and then take whatever you want,” the servant would answer, “No, hand it over now; if you don’t, I’ll take it by force.”
¹⁷ This sin of the young men was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they^[a] were treating the Lord’s offering with contempt.
¹⁸ But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁹ Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. ²⁰ Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to^[b] the Lord.” Then they would go home. ²¹ And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
²² Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ²³ So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. ²⁴ No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. ²⁵ If one person sins against another, God^[c] may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
²⁶ And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

Prophecy Against the House of Eli

²⁷ Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to your ancestor’s family when they were in Egypt under Pharaoh? ²⁸ I chose your ancestor out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in my presence. I also gave your ancestor’s family all the food offerings presented by the Israelites. ²⁹ Why do you^[d] scorn my sacrifice and offering that I prescribed for my dwelling? Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel?’
³⁰ “Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. ³¹ The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house, so that no one in it will reach old age, ³² and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. ³³ Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.
³⁴ “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. ³⁵ I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. ³⁶ Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.”’”

 

The wickedness of Eli's sons, Samuel's ministry.

Samuel, being devoted to the Lord in a special manner, was from a child employed about the sanctuary in the services he was capable of. As he did this with a pious disposition of mind, it was called ministering unto the Lord. He received a blessing from the Lord. Those young people who serve God as well as they can, he will enable to improve, that they may serve him better. Eli shunned trouble and exertion. This led him to indulge his children, without using parental authority torestrain and correct them when young. He winked at the abuses in the service of the sanctuary till they became customs, and led to abominations; and his sons, who should have taught those that engaged in the service of the sanctuary what was good, solicited them to wickedness. Their offence was committed even in offering the sacrifices for sins, which typified the atonement of the Savior! Sins against the remedy, the atonement itself, are most dangerous, they tread under foot the blood of the covenant. Eli's reproof was far too mild and gentle. In general, none are more abandoned than the degenerate children of godly persons, when they break through restraints.

Your kids deserve enough love that you will correct them.

God bless,
Marty

Working For A Living 5/12/14

Good Morning,

My coffee this morning is Door County Heavenly Caramel. Monday once again and I am headed into a long week of work. Yesterday as I wrote the devotional I was able to sit on my patio with the temperatures around 68 degrees. The sun was coming up and I said to God, "what a beautiful day this is". During the week with my work times being what they are I don't have time to enjoy the patio until later in the evening. I really am a morning person. A cup of coffee, a sunrise and  watching our dog Gibbs chasing doves around the yard is more pleasure than I can ask for.

Colossians 3:23        

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,

         

2 Thessalonians 3:10         

For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat.

         

Proverbs 14:23         

In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

         

Proverbs 16:3         

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

         

Proverbs 10:4    

A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich
 

 Like many of you I have to work to pay our bills and keep food in the freezer. When we all signed on with the companies we work for,  a wage was established and expectations set for us. If you find yourself without work right now, my prayers are with you. This devotional will help in the future. If you own your own company and employ others you will agree with me whole heartedly.

We owe our employers our best efforts each day. We owe them work for time paid. I see more and more people on their cell phones every day, and participating on social media during times when they are to be working. Friends this is stealing. I hear of people browsing the internet during work hours shopping for this or that. If our employers were to deduct the non worked hours from their pay, there would be a lot of whining and complaining. We should only do these things if allowed during our lunch or break times.

Here's the hard cold facts. You accepted the job and expectations. Now do your best to meet them. Work as if you were being hired as a new employee every day. Make your employer want to choose you every day.

You will be surprised how much faster the day goes by and how much more content you will be knowing that you aren't stealing.

God bless and work hard.

Marty

Slow Smoked Pork For Mom 5/11/14

Good Morning,

Sunday and It is Mothers Day. My Coffee Today is Door County Highlander Grog. Enjoy church if you can with your Mother.

 

My Mother went to be with the Lord a few years back. I do miss her and look forward to seeing her again in Glory some day. On Saturday while our home was being painted I was smoking a large pork shoulder which today will be smothered with barbecue sauce. My Mom loved things with barbecue sauce. She had this uncanny knack for getting sauce on whatever she was wearing during her dinner. This still makes my wife and I chuckle.

 Our Mom taught us kids many things. How to cross the street without getting killed. All three of us have accomplished that so far in life. We learned from Mom how to tie our shoes and make toys from buttons and strings.  All three of us learned how to cook. I must say that the cooking lessons were ones that all three of us excelled in. My sister can make cup cakes to die for, my brother can make pork chops that are out of this world. I can barbecue ribs and pork and there is never any left overs.

Mom also spent time teaching me how to hit a baseball left handed at the plate. She taught me to keep my eye on the ball and swing fast. My dad perfected that swing by letting me chop wood. The chopping developed hand and eye coordination as well as strength.

One Mothers day many years ago I was in a baseball tournament. My Mom was in town and my wife and mother came to watch the game. As I approached the plate my Mom asked me to try and hit a home run for her. ( No added pressure there). The first pitch was just right and it ended up over the right field fence. That day provided 5 trips to the plate for me and 5 home runs for Mom. She beamed with pride. (Sorry, this is not bragging about a great game day just a fact) . Later she told me that she was proud and that the home runs I should also hit were to be for God and family.

I wish I could say that all my days since, that my life batting average for God and Family was 1000. I think about that day now. When I was little and she would toss the ball to me in the back yard, it was more than baseball to her. She was teaching me to try and swing for the fence or pass on a pitch if it was bad in my adult life for God and Family. Unfortunately I have taken some bad life pitches from time to time and came up with a big fat strike out in life. I think we can all say that now.

So today, go back in time and remember at least one of the good things you were taught and apply it to God and Family today.

Philippians 1:9-11
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ-to the glory and praise of God.

Have a wonderful day,

Marty

The Camp Fire And Friends 5/10/14

Good Morning,

The paint will be flying in our home today. It's that time again. So, up early and getting ready for a professional painter to come and tackle this. Our coffee this morning will be Door County Coconut.
You might be thinking "why doesn't this guy paint his own house"? Good question. I am not lazy, but I know my limits. If I was to paint the bedroom, we would need all new wood trim, new doors, new carpeting and I would be in locked up for room abuse.  I can put plumbing anywhere, lay concrete, build patios, but painting??? Well, one has to know where they are gifted and where they are not.

Spring is here and yesterday I saw trucks pulling pop up campers heading North for a weekend or week of camping and maybe some fishing. Most people love to sit out at night while camping next to a nice bonfire. The smell of smoke and burnt marshmallows are in the air. Then the stories begin.  In my younger days the Country Western tunes would be sung until the coyotes started to howl along.

I don't camp much at all anymore. My idea of camping now is my fireplace with a hot cup of tea in January while in my living room and my favorite book in my hands.

Jesus enjoyed a camp fire and friends. Have you ever thought of sharing some Jesus time around the fire?  How about some prayer around the fire, before the singing begins and the scary stories are told? How about reading my favorite book out loud (The Bible) around the fire?

Many people enjoy camping. Think about how much better it would be if Jesus was brought into camp?

John 21

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.^[a] It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus^[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.^{[c] 9} When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

God Bless, Can you imagine how great that fish tasted? Jesus had to be from Wisconsin. He understood the term Fish Fry! LOL
Marty

Nigerian School Girls, Prayer and One Mad Duck Hunter 5/9/14

Good Morning,

Friday once more and I am looking forward to the weekend. My coffee of choice is Door County German Chocolate Cake today.

Below is a snippet of a press release from the BBC.

Nigeria's police have offered a $300,000 (£180,000) reward to anyone who can help locate and rescue more than 200 abducted schoolgirls.

They were kidnapped more than three weeks ago by Islamist Boko Haram militants from their boarding school in the north-eastern state of Borno.

The militants have been blamed for another attack on a town in the state on Monday, a busy market day.

A senator from the remote area said some 300 people had died in the raid.

Ahmed Zanna said the gunmen arrived in a convoy of vans in Gamboru Ngala, near the border with Cameroon.

They stole food and motorbikes, burning hundreds of cars and buildings during their rampage, the politician told the BBC's Hausa service.

Friends, this is pure evil. My heart goes out to these girls and their families. At times my heart just rages with wanting to go to Nigeria personally and hunt down these thugs and give them their "come uppins". This duck hunter wonders if there is a limit on militants or is it just a plain old open season?

I mentioned a month or so ago that when theses types of things happen that I would call upon all who read this to pray and spread the word through social media for more prayer. This is one of those times. My prayer is that the usual "Big Powers" of the world would set aside differences long enough to "do the right thing in a joint effort".  Maybe once they joined together for good they would see that deep down  each of them really can be nice people.

I can't imagine a bunch of militants lasting very long with Russia, China, England, and the United States hot on their trail.

Better yet what these militants need is Jesus. They can't run from the Holy Spirit. We should also pray that they would find Jesus Christ and take Him as their Lord and Savior. Please join me in prayer today.

Hebrews 13:3 (NIV)

³ Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

Have a great weekend.
Marty

The Wow Factor 5/8/14

Good Morning,

Today will find us taking the Mrs. to see an Orthopedic Surgeon. Along with my Bible reading this morning I am drinking some Door County Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti Coffee. Hoping for the best outcome and a quick recovery for my gal.

I was watching a lightning show on Tuesday night from the window in my den. It seemed as if every 10-30 seconds a new flash of lightning would occur and paint a new masterpiece of sky writing for me. I watched this display of power and beauty for a good 15 minutes. The display made me think about God. I looked around my den and I have several pieces of art work on the wall. They are all beautiful pieces of wildlife art. They have received many compliments. The artists did phenomenal work. But yet as  good as they are, only God's handiwork in nature has ever taken my breath away. I call this the Godly Wow factor. Only God can write in the sky. Only God can light on half of the world and cause the other half to be dark. Only God can provide a meteor shower for star gazers to watch. God controls the Wow factor. When was the last time you stopped long enough to let a sunrise take your breath away?

I have attached some Bible verses declaring God's power and the beauty He created for us to see.

Psalm 19:1
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.    

John 1:3        

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.             

Colossians 1:16-17        

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.            

Genesis 1:31        

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.       

Psalm 104:1-35         

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters; he makes the clouds his chariot; he rides on the wings of the wind; he makes his messengers winds, his ministers a flaming fire. He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.    

Psalm 33:5        

He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

         

Romans 1:20    

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.    

Psalm 24:1        

A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

Enjoy your day. Take some time to enjoy some WOW!

God bless,
Marty

And don't forget to say thank you to the Father. he painted you a great scene.