James 1:5-8(NLT)
“5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”
God is generous with His wisdom. This is an extremely comforting piece of knowledge to have, and we must build our confidence on it. He will not be angry with us for asking Him for His wisdom, but there is a condition that must be satisfied when we ask. James 1:6 affirms that we must ask in faith, and this faith must be in God alone. It can’t be in what best friend says, pastor says, teacher says, lawyer says, mama says, or daddy says; our faith must be firmly anchored in God alone. It’s all about what God says. If our faith is in any other person or thing, James 1:7 says we shouldn’t expect to receive anything from God.
This is serious business, and most have underestimated just how serious it is. In no way can we ever allow the omnipotence of God to slip to second place in our minds, especially when it concerns what we’re here on this earth to do. It’s His purpose that affords us life, and it’s His Son that gives us life more abundantly. Outside of this, there is only torment. The more we slip away from God’s purpose, the more red flags we receive, and one of those red flags are feelings associated with deep sadness, being lost, and disappointment with life.
The Right Motivation
The right questions are those asked with the right motivation. It might seem to you that our Heavenly Father is very picky when it comes to this. To understand His point of view, consider the warning in Deuteronomy 4:29(NLT) that Moses gave to the God’s people living in Old Testament times, “But from there you will search again for the LORD your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.” In Matthew 6:33, Jesus Christ also tells us to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness above ALL else. It is very clear that God is interested in the motivation of our heart to put Him and His purpose first. If our greatest motivation isn’t to seek God first, we will not be persistent in our pursuit. Instead, we will seek for a little while, become weary, then cease.
God is brilliant beyond brilliance. He sees how the man seeks the woman who he feels he has to have, how the woman prays continually for the future husband whose path she desperately wants to cross. He sees what we do for money, the games we play for power and popularity, and the time we spend on everything but the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God knows that human beings only invest their resources of time and energy on things they care about. So, when the time and energy we expend on Him is less than the time and energy we are investing on other things, we cannot argue that we are seeking Him first. Neither can we argue that seeking Him first is our primary motivation. Often, this is the area of our spiritual walk where a change must take place.
Yes, this is indeed a heart thing. Jesus Christ commanded us to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. We must love Him with all that we are. You and I can give lip service all day long, but the real and true story is contained in our hearts. God said in Jeremiah 17:10(NLT), “But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”
The right motivation is the motivation to seek God and most importantly, the motivation to PLEASE God. 2Corinthians 13:5(NLT) tells us, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.” Genuine faith is the faith of Jesus Christ, and his faith was always focused on the Will of God, for he said in John 8:29(NLT), “And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.”
God’s Will is His Word and His Word is true. It is the truth of which all of life is anchored. If you and I try to stand on anything other than God’s Word, we will not be standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the answer that all of us are seeking. Everything that we need can be found in Christ. Acts 17:28 tells us that it is in him that we live, move, and have our being. As James 1:8 tells us, our loyalty cannot be divided between God and the world. If it is, we are dabbling in idolatry and that’s a big no-no.
God is our Source. He’s the Source of all good things, and there can be no doubt in our minds that He is good and nothing but. He is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. He has a plan and purpose for our lives that we must seek with all our hearts to fulfill, and this must become centerstage in our existences. Until it does, we might find that dissatisfaction is a constant and troubling companion.
Renewed Mind
God commands us in Romans 12:2(NLT), “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” To renew is to make new again. This begs us to consider that we have thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors that are perpetuated by a mindset that is against the Will of God and therefore, counterproductive to our purpose. Part of this mindset may be the thoughts and attitudes that doubt the intelligence of God or doubt the reality of our specific and individual purpose in His Will. This mindset is a blocker. It keeps our faith from producing results.
Proverbs 19:21(NLT) tells us, “You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.” Again, Heavenly Father leaves nothing to chance. He’s an ‘on purpose’ God and He created us to be ‘on purpose’ people. We must renew our minds to this truth, so that we can cease with the process of guessing what He wants and commence with the practice of being led by His Spirit to do those things that please Him and satisfy His Will. Jesus Christ teaches us in John 16:13 that the Holy Spirit guides us into ALL truth; he doesn’t speak on his own but will tell us the heart and mind of Christ concerning our lives. As we walk by the Spirit, and lean on his guidance, God will reveal His heart and His plan to us.
Strategically Positioned
Everything about you is put together in such a way in order that you will serve God’s Will and Purpose. Doubting this truth is a fruitless exercise. When your faith is anchored in the reality that God has appointed every detail of your existence to satisfy His purpose through Jesus Christ, even down to the time and place of your birth, your steps will begin to line up with God’s Word. We are not here to reinvent the wheel with our own philosophies, summations, or theories. God has given us tremendous intellect and ability, but many have used His gifts to promote their own agenda and have not sought the Lord to know His agenda. 2Corinthians 3:5 (NLT) tells us, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” Heavenly Father works through us! We are in partnership with Him. He will supply all that we need, and we were created to lean on Him in every way.
God has strategically positioned us. The family, friends, and connections we’ve made in life are incredibly meaningful to our purpose in God’s Will. As we build a foundation of believing and renew our minds to God’s Word, we cannot afford to ignore relationships, some that have their roots in connections made long ago. We must begin to seek God’s purpose in those relationships, starting with the family that surrounded our lives from the very beginning. As we strive to make sense of where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going, the Father, in all His extraordinary brilliance, has already drawn the blueprint. It is contained within our spiritual DNA. Our biological families are not perfect, and neither are we, but we are all so very important to God. We must accept the possibility that despite our imperfections, God may have unfinished business in our bloodline. There’s a link that unites the past, present, and future, and through the Lord Jesus Christ, we may be that missing link.■
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Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Right Questions” written for Springfield Fellowship © 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.