A Ram in the Bush [BSC-50-S1-MR]

Is your faith on 100, or do you have a 50/50 kind of faith?  Let’s keep it real.  Are you really ready to do the right thing when you come to the crossroad of conflict and commitment?  When you make choices, is it “my way or the highway” or is it “God’s way, period”?  When you reach the road where you don’t really know which way to choose…that is the crossroad of conflict.  But, when you choose to put your faith in the Lord, He gives you a way out…like the time in the book of Genesis, when God saved the life of Isaac, the son of Abraham, with a ram in a bush. 

Throughout your life, and maybe even a lot of times in the same day, you will be faced with sudden moments where you must choose between doing what you really feel like doing, or choosing to do what you know God’s Word says you should do.  In those moments, your level of faith in the Lord is tested beyond your understanding of how things are going to work out in the end.  You are at the crossroad of conflict.  At this crossroad, many people fail to make a good choice because they don’t have a really deep respect, or spirit of fear, of God.  They really need to get an idea of who God is in all of His greatness.  Let’s think about the realness of God’s creation:

Through His power all things were made—things in heaven and on earth, things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers. All things were made through Christ and for Christ.  Colossians 1:16 ICB 

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:17 NIV

When we think about the realness, awesomeness and goodness of the Lord God, we should want to show Him that we thank Him and trust Him with everything by doing what He has said to do according to His Word.  We are grateful that He has created us to be blessed and to be a blessing.  We know in our hearts that the Lord’s blessings follow believers who try, in all of our choices, to do what God’s Word says to do.  Yes, it’s a lot, but Jesus warns us that, as His followers, we will face challenges.  And, He has sent us the Spirit of the Lord to help us, to guide us and to comfort us.  Let us pray:

Lord God, help me turn my problems over to You.  Help me stop always wanting to fix things my own way.  Please help me want to do things Your way.  Please meet me, right here, where I am, and help me to know You are with me.  I know I need Your super natural help to even “want” to make the right choices.  Please create in me a clean heart and a right spirit, for Your glory.  In the matchless name of Jesus, amen.

Everyday we are faced with making choices we think, in our minds or bodies, feel good, but that actually go against what God’s Words says we should do.  In order to make the right choice, we need to already have made up in our minds that we will choose to do what God’s Word says to do. This is what it means to be 100% all in!  If we want God to move in our lives and bless our choices, we cannot choose to do what His Word says only when we feel like it; we must think about His instructions and choose His way of doing things all of the time.  

Yes, there will be times when we don’t know exactly how a situation is going to work out, but, because we respect that Jesus rose from the dead with all power in His hands, we must trust, by faith, that He is the ultimate authority and even our situation is going to work out for the greater good.  In order for it to work out, we have to allow the Lord to speak into our situation.  And, in order for the Lord to be willing to speak in to our situation, He must be able to trust us to do what He created us to do.  

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10 KJV 

And, in order for God to trust us to do what He has created us to do, we must be willing to set aside our own understanding and get in line, get in step, and get in tune with our Savior’s ways of doing things.  When we do, we will start noticing that, in His Living Word, God has given us a “ram in the bush,” and our challenges are becoming much easier to handle.  Even in tough times, we begin to  experience the spirit of peace that is beyond all human understanding.

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.  
Galatians 5:17 ESV  

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28 KJV 

And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God's.  2 Chronicles 20:15 ESV  

Let's prepare the house

1.  God is creator and ultimate ruler over everything that has been created.  Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the whole world was made by God's command so what we see was made by something that cannot be seen.”   Can you list something amazingly big that He created?  How about something amazingly small?

Let's get creative:

2.  It's Christmas, but your family is being forced to move away from friends, fun and familiar surroundings, and so many things you really like.  What are some specific things you would pray to the Lord God for in that situation?

There are a total of seven Bible Study Code studies included in this series [BSC 50].  For a donation of any amount, you can download this entire Bible Study series, including questions that enhance your grasp of the content.   Please click [BSC 50] to download the entire [BSC 50] eBook.