Ways

05/13/2011 Human Observations

Psalm 91:11
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

There is a clear separation between my behaviors that are inspired of the Holy Spirit of God, and those that are more clearly … mine.  Why would it be necessary for His angels to watch over me while I am involved in the activities of "my ways"?  Because my ways are not those of God.   And what is it to the Creator of all thought to observe my progress in growing in the grace and knowledge of my Messiah?  Can I surprise my Creator, or hide from Him a single idea of my mind?  Hardly.  It is to open my eyes to what manner of man I truly am.  He already knows me, yet loves me anyway.  His Spirit makes clear the intent of His every word of instruction to me: to glorify Him in my activity, and please Him in my full conversation (the various aspects of my interaction with folks).  Yet, in the immaturity of my spiritual growth, I tend to waiver in my adherence to His word, that tells me to give "UN-merited favour" to the unloveable, thusly, be like my Messiah.  I have a commission from God, as do we all who belong to Him.  yet, my behavior does not always reflect that great commission. 

 Isaiah 55:⁵Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

King David had a commission from God, yet clearly had a few very human issues that sometimes did not appear to reflect divine guidance.  Yet, he is biblically regarded as precious.  Like Enoch, Noah, and Daniel, David is regarded as one of the well favoured of God.  Why?  David’s behavior was at times clearly human, as opposed to reflecting divine guidance: from the large amount of blood that he shed, to his abuse of authority in causing a murder so that he could have sex with a woman.  Even Peter the Apostle, whose zeal caused him to make many mistakes in the presence of Jesus, one of which caused our Lord to say to him:

 Mark 8:33
But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.

Yet, such was the favour of God for Peter that Jesus specifically took the time to help to heal Peter’s heart from denying our Lord three times; as well as providing Peter a Word of prophecy concerning the establishing of the mystery of God: the Church …

Matthew 16:  ¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. ¹⁷And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. ¹⁸And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This is the thing that this group had in common, even Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Daniel, and Peter: they believed God.  They counted God as divine, not the creations of God.  They were all human, just like you and me; yet, found the favour of God, not because of what they did.  Rather, because they believed God.  Abraham believed to such a degree that he even negotiated with Him for the life of a single righteous man who lived in a city of sin, believing in the integrity and authority of the speaker.  It is this belief that our Lord hopes to find when He physically returns to the earth.  Our actions oftentimes reflect how we view a subject or an encounter.  Our ways are simply that: our ways, and not the ways of God, who created our ability to think.  So let’s dispel the confusion.  My gift of free will allows me the freedom to consider whatever course I desire when I consider what manner of behavior I will exhibit in my encounters with the world.  My being a member of the church that believes that Jesus is the Messiah of the world does not guarantee that my behavior will always reflect the will of God.  However, what IS indicated is that I am being refined and prepared to be a part of the handiwork of God, to effect occurrences that have a present or even a future impact, according to mind of our Sovereign, the Creator of time.  If and when I err, I am taken out of the Way, corrected, and then put back into activity.  As are we all.  Let not the lessons be wasted. 
Micah 6:8
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?