Serving the Lord, The Wrong Way

 Your way? 

Hey folks, welcome today. Today we are talking about serving God. Did you know that it is extremely common, especially for new believers, to attempt to follow God, but do it wrong? Did you know you can do WHAT God says to do but not HOW God says to do it? Most of the time? It does not end well.

You see, believe it or not, God is wiser than you. I know right? God, the Alpha, and Omega, the Creator of all that is, is smarter than our puny little decades-old brains. He knows what will work and what will fail. He knows and, here is another thing we need to understand, has the right tools, and ways, that will work, to get the job done.

If I hire you, and tell you I need you to paint the house next week, and A - do not give you the paint, brushes, or anything else, you cannot possibly do the job. B- If you decide, even though I have given you the tools, not to wait, but to do it this week? Well, what you do not know, I know, that there is a storm coming. You get the job half down and it storms. You fail. If you wait another week past what I said, the house is sold and now you cannot do the job. God is the same way. Turn to Numbers 14.

Moses sent out spies to spy on the land that God told them He was going to give them. They came back as people were, and I love this word, grumbling, against Mose and Aaron saying that they were going to die in the desert and wanted to elect new leaders to lead them back to Egypt. Understand this point. They did not lose faith in Mose and Aaron. They chose to not believe in what God told them.

Mose and Aaron fell down on their faces to pray and attempt to repent to God for the people when Joshua the son of Nun, who was with the spies did the same. He said this to the congregation. Verse 7

“The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”

Joshua was trying to restore their faith in God by reporting it was exactly how God said it would be, and that God had said He was going to give it to them. Then they tried to stone them when God appeared before them. 

“And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them? I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

God is saying, after all, they have been through, the plague, locus, frogs, death of newborns, the parting of waters, bread from heaven, God says, what more do they need to believe me? Mose intercedes for the people and God does not totally wipe them out, but He did promise judgment on those who grumbled and lost faith in Him and tried to turn others against those who are still faithful to Him. Now here is where it gets interesting. Read this carefully with me. Verse 38

“When Moses told these words to all the people of Israel, the people mourned greatly. And they rose early in the morning and went up to the heights of the hill country, saying, “Here we are. We will go up to the place that the Lord has promised, for we have sinned.” But Moses said, “Why now are you transgressing the command of the Lord when that will not succeed?”

Now remember, God said to do this. They doubted and got rebuked by God and as a punishment, God said those who grumbled will never set foot in the land He is still going to give to the faithful. They said, “We are okay, God said we will win so let's go.” They were doing what God said, but not how God said to do it. Do you see this?

“Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you be struck down before your enemies. For there the Amalekites and the Canaanites are facing you, and you shall fall by the sword. Because you have turned back from following the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.”

Again, they are doing what God said, not how God said to do it. Watch what happens.

“But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp. Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and defeated them and pursued them, even to Hormah.”

Did God lie? No of course not. They rebelled against God because they did not follow HOW God said to do it. They were looking to achieve this for their own self-preservation following what God told Moses, and not for the glory of God.

Let me share a little true story with you. I got saved, I got excited, and I felt a calling to be a sower of the Word, teller of truth, sharer of the Gospel. I thought to myself, “Pastor.” Still to this day, this was way back when I was in my twenties, I heard a voice. I’m not kidding, I heard an audible voice say to me, “Go to Florida.” I was in NY at the time. What did I do? I went to Ohio. Not kidding.

You see, I saw this Pastor, Pastor Rod Parsley on TV and He has a Bible college in Columbus Ohio. I thought to myself, “I want to be a Pastor. Here is this world-famous Pastor with a Bible college, I will go there.” Well? I went and spent two weeks with Pastor Rod Parsley. Nice guy. The collage was beautiful. However, did you know, that nothing worked out? Nothing. I could not get a job, a place to live, or anything. I went back to NY defeated and a little depressed. I went on with life and in the years to follow, my mother moved to Florida. My whole family lived in Florida at this point. All I had in NY was a failing marriage and my Job in the Hotel Business.

I came to Florida in 2000 on Vacation and ended up meeting a landlord who basically handed me a key and everything just clicked in my favor. I had a place to live with a dock on the water, and fruit trees in the yard. It was amazing. I went back and gave a thirty-day notice in the Hotel and even trained my replacement. I walked into a Hotel in Stuart Florida and got the Job during the interview. Basically, I picked up where I left off in NY. The rest, as they say, is history.

Who am I? Hello, I'm Peter. Child of God, Sower of seed, Teller of Truth, sharer of the Gospel. Now in my, cough, 50s. What took so long? Me. Notice I am doing what God told me, now fruitful, because I did it how God told me. Ohio? Everything failed. Florida? Everything succeeded and I have little to nothing to do with it. The only difference is the how.

Remember the Word declares this.

“The heart of man plans his way,

but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

If you follow God, and you decide in your heart, I’m going to do what God calls me to do, do not ever forget this one thing. If God is not with you, nothing with work out. It is God who establishes your steps. It is He who paves the way.

“In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:6

If you feel God leading you to do something, I can almost bet you He is, for there is a plan and a purpose for every one of us, Pray to Him as to HOW He would like you to do it. For if He is with you? Who can be against you?

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

If you have not already done so, you need to ask Jesus into your life, then say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray.

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I believed He rose from the dead. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, You shall be saved." Romans 10:9. You need to find a Church that God leads you to and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A New Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him."Colossians 3:10

Brand new Email if you wish to contact me, it's truthbygod1@gmail.com

May the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and the peace of our Lord Jesus, be with you all. May God bless and be with you, always.

Until next time, be blessed, be a blessing, and Jesus is Lord!