Divinely Planted

Have you ever given much thought as to why you are where you are in life right now? If you had a choice, would you be somewhere else? Would you be doing something completely different? If so, would that change truly complete your purpose in life?

So many people wish there lives away by wanting to be somewhere else or to be someone else. Is this you? We have seen others in our lifetimes do the same and many of them ended up in a worse state. There is such a thing as being in the right place at the right time, especially if God is in the picture. Divine intervention has had its place in creation from the very beginning. If you are a Christian, God has you where you are for a reason. When He is ready to make a move for you, it will come. There is no reason for any of us to rush His timing.

        When we take a look at biblical history, we find that God placed certain people in certain places to fulfill His divine plan for mankind. Any alterations could cause major outcomes for future events. “Back to the Future” was a three part production that had people moving forward and backwards in time. Depending on how they altered history had an outcome on events and lives. There is a new tv series called “Timeless.” At least six people are jumping forwards and backwards in time and truly upsetting the outcome of events. Some of their decisions have caused people to have never been born and for others, death before their time. In both instances the future was changed and not always for the better.

      God has chosen us to be us to be right where we are at this exact moment for a specific reason. For most of us we just haven’t figured it out yet because we are wanting to jump. Solomon made it very clear in chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes that everything has its season. A time to plant and a time to pluck what is planted. That includes all of us. It is very hard to work on someone else’s time table, but we have done it most of our lives by working for an employer. We can’t make our own hours and expect to keep our jobs, therefore we shouldn’t think that we can do our own thing when it comes to God and then enter into the heavenly kingdom. Doing our own thing will get us fired from our secular jobs and it will most assuredly keep us out of heaven.

     Remember the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13:3-9)? Have you ever wondered why the seed that was planted in you caused you to stay faithful to the church? It is because of God’s divine planting. He saw you as fertile soil that could make a difference in His creation. The question is, have you been living up to His expectations? Your seed could have easily landed by the wayside and been devoured by birds or on the rocky soil where there was little soil and you would have been scorched by the sun or in the thorn bushes where you would have been choked to death, but it didn’t. Since your seed fell on good soil, you are expected to yield some fruit. How much fruit have you brought forth since your plantation – 30, 60, 100 fold? Just remember, God does not make mistakes! He does not make us to anything! If we want to be pleasing in His sight as He is pleasing in our sight, then we need to be busy in the vineyard planting.

Conduct Ready

Is your conduct in check? This is possibly one of the most important questions to ask ourselves on a daily basis, especially if we are trying our best to imitate Christ. Others are checking us out, so why not check on our own selves as well! Our conduct is nothing more than our behavior. How is your behavior these days?

Paul wrote to young Timothy in 1 Tim. 3:15 and said this, but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth.” The purpose for Paul writing this epistle was that men might know how to live in the church. Christians must learn to live with each other in order to live in the church. The church family of God. God is the Father. Christians are brothers and sisters in Christ. Love of God can only exist where brotherly love exists. Paul taught Christians how they are to live in the church of the living God. How are YOU doing so far?

James, the half brother to Jesus, had this to say about our conduct. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good works in meekness of wisdom. The wise and understanding person lives a good life with meekness of wisdom. Meekness means gentleness, humility, courtesy and consideration toward others. Meekness is the opposite of a rough, egotistic, unyielding attitude. A lack of meekness indicates a lack of wisdom. The Bible teacher must live what he teaches! How is YOUR check on meekness of wisdom in YOUR life today?

Peter reminds us in 1 Pet. 1:17, that God the Father is no respecter of persons and will judge according to each man's work. How will God judge you and your works? Will He be pleasantly pleased or unpleasantly disappointed? The rest of this first mentions your sojourning in fear. This means having the proper respect for God or reverence for Him as we are only here for a very short time.

In Phil. 4:9, Paul exhorts us to follow his example by becoming doers of the Word. He shows us that Christian conduct is built on biblical content and is vital because it results in the very presence of the God of peace. Verse 9 must not be separated from verse 8. Our thought life forms the basis for our behavior. If our conduct is simply outward conformity to the expectations of the Christian crowd, it is not genuine and will not stand up under pressure or temptation. Christian conduct must flow out of a Christian thought life. A Christian thought life is the result of genuine conversion, where God imparts to us a new nature that is able to please Him.

The Christian life, therefore, is not merely a modification of the natural life, it is a new life and Christians do not merely add something to their lives, they are people who have been changed at the center, they are entirely different from the world.

Have you noticed a critical change in your life since surrendering to Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have others been able to notice this change as well? Pray to God that you will always be pleasing to Him day in and day out. In the end, this is what truly matters and determines where YOU will spend eternity. Consider your ways!

Church Idleness

Do you ever feel sluggish, run down? Most people do and this is normal, but it not healthy if it happens in the church body. Like physical ailments, disorder in the church, if left unattended, will only increase causing greater and greater sickness and pain within the membership.

It is evident that the church in Thessalonica had an idleness problem. Because of their wrong response to the imminent return of the Lord, the problem of idleness touched on briefly in 1 Thessalonians, seems to have grown worse. There were those in the church who had evidently stopped working and were running about in excited idleness from house to house in anticipation of the Lord's return at any moment. This wrong response to prophetic truth not only led to idleness and the lack of ability to support oneself and family, but it had resulted in some becoming busybodies. It appears they also expected the church to support them. It is entirely possible that it was this group that had been spreading some or perhaps all of the false teaching discussed in chapter 2 of this epistle. Further, they were probably guilty of spreading rumors or gossip about others in the church and using as their defense, the Lord's soon return. Do you or have you known of those in the church today who are like this? They might be few, but they are among us.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Paul had warned these busybodies to stop such idleness and get back to quietly working with their own hands. He later urged the believers there to admonish the unruly or undisciplined. In view of this chapter, it is clear that either they had not heeded Paul's admonishment or they had not listened to the admonishments from the church body. We must be aware that admonishment is necessary in the Lord's church today if we are going to keep harmony and oneness among the faithful.

What happened within the church at Thessalonica is a sad illustration of either wrong interpretation or wrong application of biblical truth. The New Testament does teach the imminent, any-moment possibility of the return of the Savior for His church; it is imminent, but no one knows when He will return. It could be today, but it might not be, as has been the case for hundreds of years. The principle is that we are to live as though it will be today while working and continuing on in life as though it won’t be for years to come. We must hold both truths in proper balance. As seen previously, the coming of the Lord, with all that it means to believers, is to be a strong motivation to godliness and obedience to the directives of God’s Word through the power of the Holy Spirit. Misinterpretations and misapplications of the truths of God's Word can cause endless trouble. Any teaching that encourages us to disobey another divine teaching is not Bible teaching.

So, what does the Bible teach about manual (mental) labor? For one thing, labor was a part of man's life before sin entered the scene. God gave Adam the job of dressing and guarding the Garden (Gen. 2:15). Although sin turned labor into almost hopeless toil (Gen. 3:17-19), it must never be thought that the necessity for work is a result of sin. Man needs work for the fulfillment of his own person. God created him to work. Have you noticed that God called people who were busy at work? Moses was caring for sheep (Ex. 3). Joshus was Moses' servant before he became Moses' successor (Ex. 33:11). Gideon was threshing wheat when God called him (Jud. 6:11ff), and David was caring for his father's sheep (1 Sam. 16:11ff). Our Lord called four fishermen to serve as His disciples and He Himself had worked as a carpenter. Paul was a tent maker (Acts 18:1-3) and used his trade to support his own ministry.

The circumstances of life (sickness, loss of a job, economic conditions) sometimes keep people from working, so the question was not one of inability, but unwillingness. (See 2 Thes. 3:10) What is your condition today? Are you willing or unwilling to labor for the Master? What if someone was writing an epistle about the your church family. What would they say about your work ethics for the cause of Christ? Something to think about!