God Knows Best

“…But those who ·follow the true way [do what is true; live by the truth] come to the light, and it ·shows [may be seen] that the things they do were done ·through [or in the sight of; or in obedience to;  in] God.” (John 3:21 EXB)

It seems God has placed this specific verse on my heart; unable to sleep I woke at 3am and after watching the clock, trying to convince God that I needed sleep. I was avoiding what God had been stirring in me for the past few days (to write my blog) but at 430am I finally gave in and turned on the light. I grabbed my laptop and Bible, sat down and started to pray for direction, I needed a verse so I could know what He wanted me to write and immediately ‘John 3:21’ was given to me. I know John 3:16-17, but didn’t even know what John 3:21 was about.

After opening my Bible and reading the verse, I was reminded of one of the prayers we had today at our Ladies Prayer meeting – about having a purpose given to us by God, and fulfilling that purpose. In my Bible I read from the New King James Version - Jesus said, “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” The bolded ‘been done’ has a note that says this is from the word ‘ergazomai’ compare to the word ‘energy’, to work, be busy, accomplish something, carry on a trade, produce things, be engaged in, toil, perform, to do business – ‘ergazomai’ is the opposite of idleness, laziness, or inactivity.

I’ve been praying for guidance and specific direction with my business and recently God has shown me what I was seeking. When I first started with Scentsy, it wasn’t meant to be anything more than just getting discounts on warmers and wax for our home, but God has used my business to change me. I’m a shy person, I do not like to step out of my comfort zone, but I soon learned that when I shared Scentsy with people, I was sharing more than just wax – I was witnessing to people. Since I had been writing my blog for a few months when I started with Scentsy, I  felt that God wanted me to have my business cards two-sided with information on my blog and FB page on the other side. I was nervous about sending the business cards for approval, but of course with prayer, my two-sided cards were approved. I took that as further encouragement and began to share more boldly than I had before and began to notice that either I was good at selling or I was blessed (here’s a hint, I’m not good at ‘selling’).

This weekend I went to my first Scentsy event and even though it seemed I shouldn’t go, I had to drive by myself over 300 miles and my husband wasn't comfortable with me going by myself – but God had a plan for that trip. I had some great worship time alone with God, just talking and thanking Him for all He’s done – trusting that He had a plan for why everything worked out as they did. I soon was shown how God wanted to work this event for His glory - sowing seeds and watering seeds among other consultants. I had thought His purpose was just witnessing to customers, so sharing with other consultants hadn’t even occurred to me! I had a guest ticket that I didn’t get to use for the event, so that morning I had posted on the event page that I wanted to bless someone with that ticket. A consultant requested the ticket and when I met her, we talked and she mentioned she homeschooled – so I of course told her I was homeschooling my children as well and felt the need to give her my business card, where I quickly pointed out my blog on the back. She was immediately excited and said she didn’t know we could do such things, she said she wanted to share a scripture on her business cards and catalogs as well. I told her that my card was approved through compliance, so she should have hers done as well! I didn't see her again after that, but I believe that was the whole purpose of our meeting, allowing her to know she can share a verse on her cards so she can sow and water seeds also. Next I met two wonderful ladies, whom I was able to share and talk with over the next 7 hours – I believe I was able to sow seeds with them and it was on the trip home that God shared with me that He can use anything, even my Scentsy adventure for His glory.

What does this all have to do with John 3:21 you might ask, well – everything! God gives us a purpose, He doesn’t change His mind, that purpose stays the same. God wants me to raise our sons as men of God, He’s allowing me to show them how to be a witness to others, how to care for others, and how to walk in the light. Of course, I’ll make mistakes, but I have two boys watching me – keeping me on my toes, so I’m getting much better at apologizing when I do make those mistakes because I want them to learn to do the right thing, even when it’s the last thing you want to do.

Sharing God isn’t about going to church on Sundays, it’s about living for God 24/7, so when I’m ‘working’, I’m still sharing God. I want them to know Colossians 3:23 “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”  We have a purpose, my purpose isn’t Scentsy, my purpose is raising our sons – my work is Scentsy, and I’m doing that as if I was doing it for God and not for me. God is using Scentsy as a vehicle for sharing His message, He is using it as an example of how God can use ANYTHING for His glory, and God will bless us when we put Him in all that we do.

The God Shaped Hole

So many people are looking for GOD and don’t even know it. They have an emptiness in their heart that they can’t fill; although they might try to fill it with sex, drugs, alcohol, food, or anything they can buy, the hole never gets filled. They don’t realize that only GOD can fill that hole and only GOD can make them complete.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. (Psalm 139:13 NLT)

Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands. (Psalm 119:73 NIV)

As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5 NIV)

This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer and Creator:  “I am the Lord, who made all things. I alone stretched out the heavens. Who was with me when I made the earth? I expose the false prophets as liars (Isaiah 44:24-25a NLT)

GOD created us and this world, our purpose is for HIM, our purpose is for sharing GOD with those who don’t know HIM.   

             

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV)

Let me explain the difference between religion and relationship – religion is what Jesus explained as the cold ritual of following rules and regulations but without a heart for GOD. The Pharisees were pious and religious, judging and condemning others; Jesus told them they didn’t know GOD because they didn’t have a heart for GOD, but only for themselves.  Jesus was so angered at how the teachers of religious law had become, He let everyone know:

 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.  They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. “Everything they do is for show…And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues.  They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces….

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either. “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites!  For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.  Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel! “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence!  You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too.  

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.   (Matthew 23:1-7, 13-15,23 -28 NLT )

Jesus came to set us free, not to condemn us and imprison us with rules and regulations that complicate our lives.The Laws haven’t changed, they are the morals that we are born with. The Laws that were given after the Ten Commandments were meant to protect GOD’s Chosen people from themselves. The more the Israelites began to assimilate with the nations and cultures around them, the further they fell away from GOD. The further they fell away from GOD, they began to try to fill that God shaped hole with other things, the more they tried to fill that hole with the wrong things, the more they fell away – a vicious cycle that only caused more pain and suffering.  

One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord.  And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 NLT)

Jesus came as GOD, He came to show us that GOD loves us, HE loved us when we were full of sin. HE wants us to love him, HE won’t force Himself on us; we have to come to HIM. Jesus wants a relationship with us, He wants us to make Him the Lord of our lives, to spend everyday with Him because we want to, not because we feel we have to. Jesus died on the cross for us because we could never get ourselves right with GOD unless we have Jesus; so we don’t need to try and wait until we’re good enough to come to GOD (since without Jesus, that's impossible)!

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

"This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."  (John 3:16-21 MSG)

Once you have GOD in your life, you are a new creation, you are made right with GOD. This doesn’t mean life has become perfect and there will be no pitfalls, detours or mistakes. The difference is now you aren’t living for yourself, you are living for GOD, you WANT to please HIM. When you WANT to make changes and become who GOD created you to be, life is different, because your focus is different. You will know the difference in your life when you've discovered that God shaped hole, isn't empty, it's being filled and the more you spend time with GOD and in HIS Word, the more that hole is filled and you you experience a comfort, joy and peace you've never known before!  

image from :http://hixdei-love.deviantart.com/art/God-Shaped-Hole-196152428