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Gen. 6:6-8 -The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The LORD said, " I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. NASU
Are you able to mentally accomplish this type of forgetting?
When your heart is grieving because of what you have done, own it. Openly confess to those who are your friends. Confess it to anyone who will listen. If no one will listen confess to God because He is always listening. Let Him know you feel like He did after creation of mankind, sorry for that which you have done.
This is known as "stinking thinking" when all you do is think about that which you can't change. They say that when a quarterback throws an interception that he must forget about it. He must put it behind him and get himself mentally ready to come back out on that field again and play like it never happened.
God was going to start over and His plan included Noah. Sometimes we need to start over and start over with new people. These new people will be people willing to listen to God's Word. Noah listened to God and found himself building an ark which I am sure looked like a fairly crazy thing to be doing. When you partner with God you may find yourself doing some outlandish things, but partner with Him anyways. It will be the best thing you have ever done. Think on These: There are two kinds of fools: those who can't change their opinions and those who won't. We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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 I Kings 18:43-45 - He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go back” seven times. 44 It came about at the seventh time, that he said, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand is coming up from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot and go down, so that the heavy shower does not stop you.’ ” 45 In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower.
Please and thank you for visiting and recommending this site to others for me. www.SeragosPumpUps.com Having people not believe in your dreams is a commonplace experience. In our text above Elijah had a vision or a dream where the Word of the Lord came to him. In this vision God had told him that it was going to rain (vs.1). Now no one else knew it was going to rain. Everyone had been programmed to not believing it was going to rain because it hadn't rained in over three years.
They go through this ritual six times and each time his answer is the same, “There is nothing.” Imagine going through this same routine six times and coming back with the same answer, “There is nothing.”
What were you able to see that no one else could see? Did you see yourself winning something or becoming something no one ever thought you were capable of winning or accomplishing?
In 1997 at the Freestyle Wrestling Championships the USA’s 57 Kilo wrestler pulled out of the competition. This left the spot open for the number two wrestler, Tony Purler, who was traveling with the team but was 22 lbs. over weight because he wasn’t expected to wrestle. He was traveling with the team to be a wrestling partner for the number one wrestlers. When the number one wrestler pulled out Tony had a few days to lose the 22 lbs and make the weight. When others couldn’t see it happening Tony, his coach and a few teammates were able to see it. He made the weight and wrestled in his first World Championship. Why? He was able to see what others couldn’t.
At least that is what Elijah did and on the seventh time his servant came back with a different answer. A don’t get your hopes up to high answer. He says, “Behold, a cloud as small as a man’s hand…” The servant doesn’t have much faith is this little cloud. In fact, he says it is a “small” cloud. It is only the size of a man’s hand. Now if you think about that for a moment, physically speaking, that size of a cloud isn’t going to do much. That is what makes this story all the more fascinating.
All I can say is keep believing or having faith in your dreams. Elijah did and in the end he was right and they were wrong.
Small minds are the first to criticize large ideas. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Jonah 1:1-3 - The word of the LORD came to Jonah....saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
Was Jonah afraid of the people? After all God said, "Their wickedness has come up before Him." No, Jonah wasn't afraid of them. That wasn’t the problem? Jonah believed the people of Nineveh would repent. What? You heard me correctly. He didn't want this job assignment because in his mind if he preached the people of Nineveh would repent, if they repented God would forgive them and he didn't want them to be forgiven. WOW!
I was asked to go to a prison and visit a convicted child molester by a family member who was a member of the church. I DID NOT WANT MY JOB ASSIGNMENT. I was like Jonah. I didn’t want to go visit that person in prison. I was like Jonah. I will tell you this I did go but it took me allowing the Spirit of God to work on my spirit because my flesh didn’t want to visit that person.
Maybe your assignment was from God, your parents, your spouse or your employer. You know you should do it but the only thing on your mind is running from your obligation.
2. Don't Make Any Hasty Decisions. One of my favorite passages of scripture is "And it shall come to pass..." What you're going through has a life span and it'll be over before you realize it. 3. Do Your Assignment With The Best Possible Attitude. Remembering that everything we do is to bring glory to God. Can you imagine how difficult it would've been to listen to Jonah's messages? He would have been preaching with an attitude and not a pleasant one, I might add. The scripture says he was angry. Jonah 4:1-2 - But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD and said, "Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.
God has given us a chance to hear the Gospel and repent. He also wants us to give other people the opportunity to hear the Gospel and repent.
God always wants us to be the best we can be especially when doing job assignments we don't like. In what ways today does God want us to change so that we can be like the people of Nineveh? Think on This: When looking for faults use a mirror, not a telescope. The man who thinks he has no faults has at least one. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word James 4:2 - "…You do not have because you do not ask." NASU
So what happened? What changed our way of thinking? When did we start thinking that we could go it all alone?
I really didn't see what the big deal was at the time. Needless to say my parents were not happy with my behavior and they enrolled me in a military academy in Staunton, Virginia. My dad said the military helped him grow up and this is what I needed. I remember watching my parents and siblings drive away and I was left behind on that blacktop driveway. There was an emptiness in the pit of my stomach for about 30 seconds and then my mind entertained this question, "Now what are you going to do?" That is when I said, "It is me against the world." I said some other things but I would not put them in print. There wasn't any emptiness in my stomach now. It was filled with determination that I will show them. I will show the world. I can survive. I can go it on my own. That is when I started avoiding asking anyone for anything. If I wanted something I would get it. If I couldn't get it without asking someone I would do without it. My life plan became plain and simple. If you can't get it by yourself do without it.
So I confessed Jesus to be my Lord and Savior and was baptized into Christ. I have never regretted making that decision. I have made plenty of bad decisions that I have regretted making, but asking for God's help has never been one of my regrets. So as the scripture says, "…You do not have because you do not ask." So I asked for Jesus to be the Lord of my life. Since I became a Christian on that day I have been asking for help ever since. It really is the better way to live. When I need something I ask God for His help to acquire it. If I am supposed to have it God will see to it that I receive it. If He doesn't want me to have it I will not get it. I know He will supply me with what I need. If He doesn't give it to me there is a reason. I can better serve Him without it. So is there something you don't have? Then ask God for it. If He wants you to have you will. If He doesn't want you to have it this is for your own good. Think on This: You can buy education, but wisdom is a gift from God. God often tries us with a little to see what we would do with a lot. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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