Reflections on Bible verses


God's GPS


Hebrews 13:20-21 are two verses that give me great encouragement,

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,
that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well
pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.  Amen.

These verses teach us that God is working in us all the time to bring us to maturity--
our destiny in Christ.

A friend of mine shared a brilliant illustration of this one time. 
He likened God's guidance to that of the Global Positioning System (GPS),
one of those systems they now have in cars that guides you to your destination.

A GPS system uses a satellite to give an aerial view,
and its sole function is to get you to your destination, your "destiny."        

As you travel to your destination, you have a map on the screen, and this little annoying voice
talking to you through the whole trip, "Left turn a quarter mile ahead; left turn 150 feet ahead;
left turn 50 feet ahead."

If you miss your turn, it immediately computes a new course for you so you can get back to
where you are supposed to be. And if you mess up on those directions, it then computes
another new course.   

In the same way, God has a destiny for us to fulfill,
something that fits into His great master plan. 
By His grace, He is guiding us all the way, even when we get off track. 
God just readjusts and says,
"This is the next thing you need to do to get back into My plan."

Through His "GPS", He is always working to get us where we need to be. Praise God! 

Bayless Conley






The Road to Perfect and Complete


  James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 
But let patience have its perfect work,
 that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

What I want to look at is how God seeks to bring us to maturity by building patience into our lives.
If there is one thing I have learned in my Christian walk, it is that God
is not in as much of a hurry as I am!

Now, what is patience?  Patience is the long-lasting quality of your faith.
If you let go of your patience, your faith falls to the floor.

The end result God is looking for is that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. 
The word perfect here means mature.
God is developing maturity in us by working on our patience.

I have a dear friend who has a great church.
They endeavored to build another building on their property and it ended up being a major undertaking. In fact, it turned out to be the most difficult thing he had ever done.
I mean, it took a strip out of his hide.

Eventually it got built, but you know what my friend says about it? 
He says, "You see that building? I didn't build that building. It built me."

Going through those trials, facing those difficulties, having his faith tested,
having to trust God when it seemed like there was a lack of finances,
having to hold onto God's Word when he was a laughing stock with some people,
all of that built character in him as he stood the test.

I have a question for you: Has anything been building you lately? 
If so, rejoice, because God is working maturity in you!
 
Bayless Conley