157. having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his willH

1 Kings 17:8  Then the word of the Lord came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Luke 4:25-26     But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land,  and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Isaiah 55:8    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.

Romans 9:15     For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

Ephesians 1:11    In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

God’s purpose, God’s plan, God’s will, will seldom make sense to us but can be trusted and relied upon.  How are we to understand unless God opens our mind to things we cannot comprehend.  If we were to give a lifetime to trying to discern God’s plans and purpose in just one event, we would not scratch the surface of it in our lifetime or a million other lifetimes.  God spoke creation into being and breathed life into it.  Who of us can fathom the awesome power and majesty in just the words from His lips?  There is so much that goes on in the world and throughout each day, there is tragedy happening to man.  God directed God allowed, and all His purpose.  When we think of some of these tragedies it is hard to apply “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”   But who are we to say God was unfair in His purpose and plan.  Who are we to say what appears to be bad and tragic are not going to be blessings for thousands.  That is just it, we don’t know.  However, we can cling to, rely on, and trust in God, for He will never leave us or forsake us and has plans and purpose to help us, not to harm us.  No matter what comes our way learn to say it is well with my soul, for I believe in Jesus Christ and I am just passing through this world into eternity with my Redeemer and Savior.

Walk in My ways

“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD,  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

““As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we will not listen to you.”

Psalms 81:11  “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me.  So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels.   Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!  I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.  Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him, and their fate would last forever.  But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Zechariah 7:11   But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.

Jeremiah 7:23     But this command I gave them: ‘Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.’  But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backward and not forward.

Psalms 106:12    Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.  But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.

2 Thessalonians 2:9     The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,  and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,

Isaiah 30:1     “Ah, stubborn children,” declares the LORD, “who carry out a plan, but not mine, and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin;

Note the choices being made in these scriptures and they all have eternal consequences: “they have forsaken me,” – “we will not listen to you.” – “my people did not listen to my voice” – “would not submit to me” – “follow their own counsels.” -“they refused to pay attention” -“turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears ” -“they did not obey or incline their ear” – “went backward and not forward.” – “they soon forgot his works” – “they did not wait for his counsel” – “they refused to love the truth ” – “who carry out a plan, but not mine”.   We need to be mindful of our sinful nature and it’s inherent desire to be all about self and self accomplishments.  Walking down the path of life we make choices.  If we choose to humbly serve, honor, follow and obey God the path we follow is God directed.  If we choose to be complacent and neglect His word we are soon finding ourselves unable to discern His leading and are blind to the path of destruction we are on.  Spend time in His word.  Learn to hear His whispers of leading.  Choose to follow and obey Him.