MasterTruth

The Secret to Accomplishing God's Work

Has anyone ever heard of Bezaleel? He is the kind of guy you’d like to know when you want to finish your basement or remodel a room. He was the best of the best when it came time to build the tabernacle. If we were making it today, we’d go to Home Depot and Hobby Lobby to get materials and decorations, including the fabric required to make the tent. But in Exodus, they didn’t have stores. The furniture, pots, candlesticks and utensils had to be handmade and hand engraved. The fabric had to be hand woven and embroidered. Someone had to do that.

Bezaleel was the guy God picked to oversee all this made-from-scratch work. For me, any of the required work to make the tabernacle would have been like climbing a mountain. Not one thought of how to accomplish it would have entered my head. Fortunately, there was Bezaleel who was gifted in those areas. How did that happen, anyway?

“And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; And to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in the cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work. And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer, in blue, and in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work.” (Ex 35:31-35)

This was a case of God equipping a man to do God’s work. How fulfilling do you suppose it was for Bezaleel to have this talent and to get to use it for a divine purpose?

I’m thinking of my verse for the year and how this story sheds more light on it. “A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.” (Prov. 16:9) God not only directed Bezaleel’s hands and feet, He directed his mind by giving him the thought processes and the ability to teach others how to help him. He had a whole package of ability from God that went well beyond just his steps.

But God directs me and you, too, with steps, thoughts, ideas, skills, communication abilities—everything we need to do the job He has in mind for us. We fit in God’s great work, the church—His body in motion. It’s a spiritual building He uses to equip the saints for the work of ministry. And He put in His people different sets of abilities to help build it. This is what Eph. 4 is all about. It makes me look at my place in the church (local and universal) in a new light. God wants to use me in the area in which He has gifted me. How am I doing? How are you doing?

Yesterday we looked at For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) Today we see For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Jody

God's Will, God's Way

The children of Israel are in the midst of their wilderness wandering in Ex. 35 (That’s where I’m at today in reading through the Bible in a year. You can jump in any time. Here’s a link: http://www.bibleplan.org/ch/kjv/). It’s time to start building the tabernacle. Hmmm. Who should participate in that and how should Moses encourage the Israelites to participate? After all, he has been given some pretty specific instructions on how it should be done, and it’s going to take a lot of work and money.

Do you suppose that if this were happening in our day, there would be a sermon on how everyone better pitch in and do their fair share, and a capital campaign would be in the works to fund it, and everyone would feel shamed and guilted into participating? I know of no other way. How about you?

So I’m positively captivated by how this elaborately planned and designed tabernacle actually came about, starting in Ex. 35. My fascination centers on the word willing used in four verses. Here they are. Bask in them with me.

• Ex 35:5  Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass,
• Ex 35:21-22  And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered an offering of gold unto the LORD.
• Ex 35:29  The children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the LORD, every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work, which the LORD had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.

How refreshing! I see a lot of freedom in these verses. God stirred the people’s hearts without any harassing or brow-beating from Moses. And there was enough stirring going on that in chapter 36, Moses had to announce that the people could stop giving. There was more than enough to accomplish the task.

I would love to see this more in our day. Let Him stir. Then He gets the glory. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13)  Let’s give God room and credit for making His desire happen His way.

And that brings me to my verse for 2015. A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. (Prov. 16:9) The account in Ex. 35 shows another angle of this verse. Sometimes God directs our steps by making His desires our desires. When that happens, we are delighted, and He is delighted. We are fulfilled, and He is glorified. It’s a rewarding, pure proposition. Read the bulleted verses above again and see if the honesty and simplicity of it doesn’t just make you want to praise God for how He works. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (Psa. 107:8)

Tell me what you think.

Jody

Who Directs Your Steps?

My verse for 2015 is Prov. 16:9: A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. I shared my “verse for the year” with a friend, and she found it peculiar.What does it mean? Does it mean we are simply puppets? That’s a question a person would be tempted to ask. But I don’t plan to examine it as much on an intellectual level as on a Bible-example level. I’m reading through the Bible this year with that verse as my overlay or my lens.

So, in the book of Genesis, I read about Joseph, his father Jacob’s favorite of 12 boys. I read about the dreams Joseph had and shared with his brothers that they would bow down to him someday. If I had a dream like that, I’m not sure I’d share it with my siblings, knowing that they just might get jealous and hate me. But Joseph shares it, and they get jealous and hate him.

His brothers toy with the idea of killing him after they throw him in a pit. While they sit there eating lunch, with Joseph stuck in the hole, they decide the better deal is to sell him as a slave and make some money off of him. (And you thought your siblings were bad!) Before they finish lunch, a group of Midianite merchantmen pass by, find Joseph in the hole, and decide to sell him. The brothers miss their chance to make money, not knowing what happened to him (Genesis 37).

Let’s take a look at Prov. 16:9 again. A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. Hmmm. According to that verse, was God in control of Joseph and his brothers’ situation? I’ll bet none of them thought so that day. Joseph ends up in Egypt as a slave in the home of Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s.Joseph’s scheming brothers, who don’t know what happened to him, have to make up a story to tell their father and choose to tell him a wild animal killed him.

Fast-forward, if you know the story, Joseph ends up being 2^nd in charge, just below Pharaoh, and he’s in charge of the food supply during a wide-spread drought. His father and brothers are about to starve, so the brothers come to Egypt for food and bow down to Joseph, just like Joseph dreamed would happen. Only the brothers don’t know it’s Joseph. They probably assume he’s dead.

In Gen. 45, Joseph finally makes himself known to his brothers after toying with them for a while. His brothers are shocked speechless—after bowing down to him for the 3^rd time since they meet him as governor of Egypt. And here is the Prov. 16:9 perspective that Joseph appears to have as he talks to his brothers, who are sure Joseph is going to take revenge. “And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” (Gen. 45:7-8)

The brothers and their father Jacob get to come live near Joseph where he provides for them. Then Jacob dies. The brothers fear. Perhaps Joseph has been nice to them all this time for their father’s sake. Now that he is dead, Joseph might just turn on them. They bow down again. Wow. This is the 4^th time. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. (Gen. 50:18-20)

What I learn is that in the moment, I might not see God anywhere near my circumstances, but He is weaving His tapestry with my life for His glory. And here’s my verse again: A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.

Tell me what you think.

Jody