NSMinistries
February 16th 2008, 04:47 PM
If Part One... (http://naturalspiritministries.com/nsm/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=227:if-part-one&catid=3:gary-piper&Itemid=13)
By Gary Piper
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, IF you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, IF you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God…” Deuteronomy 11:16 – 11:28)
This is probably a question I ready know the answer to but I’m going to put it to you anyway. If you had a choice whether or not you want your life blessed or cursed by God which would you choose?
One of the most important and often overlooked words that will make their way though your life is the simple two letter word “IF” within it lay the power to be either blessed or the power to be cursed. As powerful and as far reaching as God’s Greatest Blessings are they become subject how and when you respond to “IF…”
“…IF my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2nd Chronicles 7:14, emphasis added)
A Tale of Two IF’s
Jezebel made an “IF” promise she couldn’t keep, why didn’t she keep it?
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, IF I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. (1st Kings 19:1 – 19:3)
When God’s will and mankind’s will collide it WILL be God’s will that becomes victorious. In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death Jesus prayed, “My Father, IF this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) When Jesus used the IF word he was at that moment reacting as human as you and I yet he knew in his human heart that he had a choice between his will and God’s will but he also knew in his God Heart that it was God’s will that would come out ahead not his.
This may sound very simplistic but I can assure you its implications are anything but simplistic – you cannot know God’s will without first knowing God! However, we need to make one very important distinction there is a huge difference between knowing of God and knowing God. There is no doubt Jezebel knew of God because Ahab had told her what Elijah had done and Jezebel also knew of God’s power but Jezebel did not know God because if she had she would have known she would lose.
Jacob had a dream and then made an “IF” promise. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16 – 28:17)
When we keep reading we discover that in verse 20 Jacob used the IF word, “So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “IF God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” (Genesis 28:18 – 28:22)
My immediate reaction was to ask myself after such a powerful spiritual experience why did he use the IF word? Did he not believe his dream? If he didn’t believe why did he affirm that God was there with him?
Did Jacob not trust God when he was told (in verse 15), “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Did Jacob think that God would not bless him with the provisions of life leaving him to himself? Did Jacob somehow think God would be with him and not love him at the same time?
Why did Jacob use the IF word?
We can just say Jacob used the IF word because he didn’t have any faith however, when you read the words following IF you begin to think that Jacob was trying to strike a bargain with God, “God, IF you do all these things for me then you’ll be my God,” or that he was asking God for proof before making his commitment to God.
Quite often we have a tendency to see IF in connection with doubt. With Jacob I don’t think doubt played that big of a factor I see Jacob’s IF as a response to his sudden awareness of who God was and who he was – it was Jacob’s way of acknowledging his total dependency upon God.
One of the cool things about the scriptures is we can see before, during, and after which allows us insight and motivation to build our lives upon God. In Jezebel’s case we read of the instances that led up to her promise to Elijah, we can read of Elijah’s flight to save himself, and we can read Jezebel’s ultimate defeat. In Jacob’s case read of the events leading up to his dream, we can read his dream, and we read of God’s ultimate blessings for him.
Next week “IF” continues…
By Gary Piper
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, IF you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, IF you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God…” Deuteronomy 11:16 – 11:28)
This is probably a question I ready know the answer to but I’m going to put it to you anyway. If you had a choice whether or not you want your life blessed or cursed by God which would you choose?
One of the most important and often overlooked words that will make their way though your life is the simple two letter word “IF” within it lay the power to be either blessed or the power to be cursed. As powerful and as far reaching as God’s Greatest Blessings are they become subject how and when you respond to “IF…”
“…IF my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2nd Chronicles 7:14, emphasis added)
A Tale of Two IF’s
Jezebel made an “IF” promise she couldn’t keep, why didn’t she keep it?
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, IF I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. (1st Kings 19:1 – 19:3)
When God’s will and mankind’s will collide it WILL be God’s will that becomes victorious. In the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his death Jesus prayed, “My Father, IF this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42) When Jesus used the IF word he was at that moment reacting as human as you and I yet he knew in his human heart that he had a choice between his will and God’s will but he also knew in his God Heart that it was God’s will that would come out ahead not his.
This may sound very simplistic but I can assure you its implications are anything but simplistic – you cannot know God’s will without first knowing God! However, we need to make one very important distinction there is a huge difference between knowing of God and knowing God. There is no doubt Jezebel knew of God because Ahab had told her what Elijah had done and Jezebel also knew of God’s power but Jezebel did not know God because if she had she would have known she would lose.
Jacob had a dream and then made an “IF” promise. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:16 – 28:17)
When we keep reading we discover that in verse 20 Jacob used the IF word, “So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “IF God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.” (Genesis 28:18 – 28:22)
My immediate reaction was to ask myself after such a powerful spiritual experience why did he use the IF word? Did he not believe his dream? If he didn’t believe why did he affirm that God was there with him?
Did Jacob not trust God when he was told (in verse 15), “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Did Jacob think that God would not bless him with the provisions of life leaving him to himself? Did Jacob somehow think God would be with him and not love him at the same time?
Why did Jacob use the IF word?
We can just say Jacob used the IF word because he didn’t have any faith however, when you read the words following IF you begin to think that Jacob was trying to strike a bargain with God, “God, IF you do all these things for me then you’ll be my God,” or that he was asking God for proof before making his commitment to God.
Quite often we have a tendency to see IF in connection with doubt. With Jacob I don’t think doubt played that big of a factor I see Jacob’s IF as a response to his sudden awareness of who God was and who he was – it was Jacob’s way of acknowledging his total dependency upon God.
One of the cool things about the scriptures is we can see before, during, and after which allows us insight and motivation to build our lives upon God. In Jezebel’s case we read of the instances that led up to her promise to Elijah, we can read of Elijah’s flight to save himself, and we can read Jezebel’s ultimate defeat. In Jacob’s case read of the events leading up to his dream, we can read his dream, and we read of God’s ultimate blessings for him.
Next week “IF” continues…