“The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him; but His power and wrath is against all them that forsake Him."
Ezra and his traveling companions were going from Persia to Jerusalem. The journey was a dangerous one. Ezra did not ask the king for a military escort, because he had assured the king that God would take care of them. (Read the text above.) Ezra’s boast proved to be true when he and his party arrived safely in Jerusalem. Ezra’s godly boast is still true today, for God’s hand is upon us for good. The hand of God is upon us to lead and guide us. We need the guidance of God throughout life. We will look at some examples of this guidance. God guides us to and on the right paths of life. In Psalm 23:3, David wrote: “He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” The good guidance of God’s hand is the only way that we can stay on the paths of righteousness. God guides us to the right places in life. God’s will is important, but few people consider His will today. We need to be in the place that God’s will would have us. Only God’s hand can guide us to that place. All of us need to ask ourselves, “Am I where God has guided me – where He wants me?" God guides us in making plans for our lives. What we do in our lives depends on the plans that we make in our lives. “To fail to plan is to plan to fail” is certainly true in this place. Surely, a serious Christian will ask: “Am I following God’s plans for my life, or am I going my own way?” Too often people make a mess of their lives because they are not following God’s plan for their lives. I know this looks strange to some people, but that does not make it untrue. What Ezra wrote was true: “The hand of our God is upon all to them that seek Him.” The good hand of God for good is assured to all who seek Him. Understand this: God wants the best for us, i.e., He wants to do good for us. Often He cannot do good for us because we refuse His guiding hand. God never offers His guidance reluctantly. He is eager to do good for you. Let Him! God’s goodness is the rule rather than the exception. Somehow we have the idea that God’s goodness is secondary to His wrath. God’s wrath is certainly real, but only to those who disobey Him. Doesn’t the coming of Jesus illustrate the good hand of God adequately? In Jesus, we see God’s love, mercy, grace, and indeed, His goodness. All of these are the essence of who and what God is all about. 1 John 4:16 reveals that “God is love.” God/Jesus doesn’t just love us; He is love itself. Rejoice in the love and goodness of God and claim it for yourself. We also need to know that it is dangerous to refuse the guidance of the good hand of God. It would certainly have been devastating to Ezra and those who traveled to Jerusalem with him. This is true in the Old and New Testaments. In His goodness, God reaches out His hand to guide us. If we refuse God’s helping hand we tell Him that we do not care that Jesus died for us, or that we do not care that He has offered the Holy Spirit to guide us in life. God’s wrath is reserved for those who say “no” to His guidance and goodness. It just doesn’t make sense to me that people do this all of the time. Some just don’t believe that God exists. Some believe that God exists but He doesn’t care what we do, and is unconcerned about the world that He created. But what amazes me is that there are those who know that the Bible is true and that God wants to be involved in their lives, but they go on with life as though that doesn’t matter. I don’t know which group you are in, but I am praying that if you are in one of these groups and reading this, you will let God take your hand and lead you into salvation and the abundant life that goes with it. God’s goodness and guidance are available to you. He is reaching out His hand to you. Take it! Bro. Joe
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
All
Archives
September 2021
|