God Has a Will and He Will Make a Way

 I was asked to write a short article for a magazine for young people. This is the article I wrote. I penned most of it while on my knees during devotions. The editor asked for 500 words and when I had written it all out it came out to exactly 500 words! Precious words, precious promises straight from the heart!

God Has a Will and He Will Make a Way

Benjamin Jacobs

Let there be no doubt concerning God’s desire to lead you. 

He brought you into this world:

•        Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

•     Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

He has a purpose for your life:

•         Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

He Himself takes responsibility for leading you and enabling you to fulfill His purpose for your life:

•         Psalm 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

•          Isa 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

In fact, you cannot fulfill His will (His purpose) alone:

•         John 15:5 Without me ye can do nothing.

Let these words be engraved on your heart, “My Lord’s greatest happiness and my greatest happiness are in His perfect will.” Therefore, discovering His perfect will in all things is my supreme priority. The smiles of Jesus can only be reflected on my own lips. His joy is my bliss.

The texts I claim in prayer to know and to do God’s will are the following:

·         “Lord, work in me both to will and to do according unto Thy good pleasure (His will),” 

(Philippians 2:13).

         “Lord, instruct me and teach me in the way I should go, guide me with Thine eye,” 

(Ps. 32:8)

·         “Lord, cause me to know the way wherein I should walk,” 

(Ps. 143:8).

·         “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 

(Acts 9:6).

·         “Lord, I throw open the door of my heart and invite you in! Live out Thy will and Thy life within me!

(Rev. 3:20)

Always thank God after praying such prayers as these, (1 Thess. 5:17), for it is as certain as the shining sun lights your way that He will enlighten you to know His will and to walk in His way. 

Tuning your heart to perceive His unmistakable expressions of love and His providential leading (His little loves and His little leadings), is spirituality itself. 

Consider this last thought. If God was so willing to lead and guide Jonah who was so unwilling and reluctant to obey Him, how much MORE willing will He be to lead and guide us who cry out to Him to know and to do His will!

Morning Devotional

Here are thoughts I wrote down during my devotions this morning:

Tuning my heart to perceive His unmistakable expressions of love and His providential leading (His little loves and His little leadings), is spirituality itself.

If we will but yield the throne, Jesus Himself will be the love of our hearts. Then we shall find it very easy to love for His love is unconditional and it is everlasting.

No sacrifice was too great for God to demonstrate His love for me. Let no sacrifice be too great for me to demonstrate my love for Him.

The Devil would deceive us to believe that reality is not reality—that the reality of the Bible, the reality of the ongoing great controversy between Christ and Satan, the invisible warfare of angels on our behalf, and the enormity of sin and the unspeakable blessedness of righteousness, are all but fiction. The only fiction is the illusory pleasures of this fallen world. Christ is more real and living than we ourselves are for He ever has been and ever will be. 

We must have the Holy Spirit to prick our hearts, awaken our consciences, and convict our minds. We shall have Him if we will but look to Jesus. He is the sun of righteousness and His burning beams blazing through the callous corridors of our souls are that Spirit convicting us of both our sin and our Savior—of our lovelessness and His lovingfulness. 

 I wrote down this portion of my prayer. 

"Thank you, Father, for the privilege to be in this place and for the opportunity to be polished with simplicity in speech and ministry. Please, Father, help me to learn every lesson--every single lesson--You have for me in this place. I love you, Lord. Please, let my life be an expression of my love for Thee.”

 

School; Food; Sabbath Singing

Looks like a simple structure, huh? No adornings, no sign, nothing. In this simple building all the classes are held. We also eat meals in there! The infinite truths of God's word are magnified and simplified in there! "Where two or three are gathered together in My name," Jesus said, "there am I," (Mat. 18:20). We always invite the Holy Spirit to "teach us all things," (John 14:26), and to "guide us into all truth," (John 16:13), in Jesus' name.

This is one of the first meals I had in India. Rice and curry has been on the menu ever since (different variations of rice and curries). Today I had rice and pumpkin curry. It was alright! I'm happy to be free from gluten. My mind is so much clearer.

I took a small group of students up a nearby mountain for a short hike. We sang songs at the top! I taught them some simple Scripture songs like Ps. 51:10-12, 1, 2; Pr. 3:5, 6; Jude 24. We also sang songs like Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord. They were all smiles. It was nice and cool up at the top.

Pictures from the Youth Congress in Kerala

This is the school that the meetings were held in. It was just recently built by Maranatha about 7 months ago! It's on the campus of a school built back in the 70's that's in need of new structures.

Here is the inside of the school during the meetings on Sabbath. Quite an impressive structure.

I asked the girls to let me take a quick picture. It was a very hot that day. The girl above was friendly and introduced herself. Her name was Leelah, and she was in the 9th standard (grade) at the school. Indian society is so segregated that I'm still trying to comprehend the implications of it. I can't imagine not having the softening influence of female friends during my childhood, adolescence, etc. The lifestyle around the cities is more westernized but in the vast countryside traditional values remain. I've been told that the Hindu culture has led people to assume that if a young man and woman are alone together and aren't married that they are in an inappropriate relationship. When I asked where is courtship in Indian culture my friend burst out laughing, "There is no courtship!" The whole arranged marriage situation boggles my mind and I'll wait until I understand it better before I write about it. The other night, however, I learned from the director's wife, a very sweet woman, that Indian women will remain single until death if a relationship fails. They will not love another man. That's heartbreaking to me and is expressive of the very delicate female Indian's heart. I would quickly insert here that I am living in Tamil Nadu which I have been told is the most traditional region of India. This situation is certainly not the case in the big cities and in certain places. 

I was speaking with the Kenyan brother on my left when a group of young men came over and asked to take this picture. Coming from affectionate Colombia to reserved India has been a unique experience. Not many people came up to speak with me and when they did it was very brief. They all seemed very happy to learn that I was from America. I tell you coming to India radically changes your perspective of America. Americans are tremendously wealthy, comfortable, and entertained compared to the majority of the world. There are three times more people in India than in the US and they live in less than a third of the land area. 

This picture has quite a story behind it! We caught an "Air bus" and a sleeper bus for our overnight bus trip. When the bus would speed along and hit a bump we would literally jump feet into the air and hit our heads on the ceiling. The first smack on the ceiling sent me jumping out of my seat to the front to stand like the Pastor here. It was terribly, terribly, uncomfortable and we seriously considered changing buses and losing our money. We switched seats and found it was acceptable and soon fell into a deep sleep. I listened to The Bible in Living Sound during all these long, tedious bus rides. It helped so much! I purchased some $10 headphones before I came that turned out to be a blessing because they cancel noise! There's a LOT of noise in India (obnoxious music and blaring horns--they really like the horns here). I was astonished when I took out my headphones and had to yell to talk to the person sitting next to me on the bus. I spent $50 on the 52 hours of Bible stories in the complete Bible in Living Sound series. It's been one of the best investments I've made in a long time! I listen to it while falling asleep every night.

Arrival in India and Youth Congress in Kerala State

The day after I arrived in India I traveled with the Pastor and my Kenyan suite mate to a neighboring state to attend and speak at a Youth Congress. It was a long, grueling (very appropriate word), twenty-four hour trip over five different buses. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived Friday afternoon. I spoke for the vespers that evening. There were around 200 young people in attendance from the ages of 15-25.

Here's an excerpt from my journal:

Life is interesting here in India. I've felt a world of emotions the last few days I've been here. I've felt the screamings within and without of the discomfort of culture shock in a radically different environment. I traveled too much when I arrived. That was a mistake. My body was already taxed beyond exhaustion and wrestling with jet lag and time change. It was a blessing however to attend and speak at the Youth Congress in the state of Kerala. I preached on the POWER of grace. If grace is presented correctly I firmly believe it is almost irresistible. There were about 200 young people at the congress. 

I preached on John 10:10 and the abundant life--the victorious Christian life--that Jesus came to give. 

•  John 10:10 I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

I shared examples of victorious believers in the Bible--

• Enoch ('walked with God'--Gen. 5:24--means they were in agreement--Amos 3:3--which means he was not sinning for sin causes separation from God--Is. 59:2)
•  Genesis 5:24  And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 
• Amos 3:3  Can two walk together, except they be agreed? 
• Isaiah 59:2  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
• By grace Enoch overcame sin in his life and walked with God.

• Job ('Perfect and upright... fears God'--Job 1:8--'Fear God' is defined as keeping the commandments--Eccl. 12:13)
• Job 1:8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 
• Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 
• By grace Job overcame sin in his life and was perfect and upright, a vindication of the character of God to Satan and his host.
  
• Jesus 
• "As the Son of Man He gave us an example of obedience and as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey," Desire of Ages 24.
• Jude 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 
• After reading Jude 24 I started singing the song ~"He's able, He's able, I know He's able...!" :)

Grace is given not only to pardon us from past sins but to empower us to live up to God's highest expectations--to enable us to be just like Jesus by restoring in us His perfect character of love.

The Reward of the Redeemed

For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our glory and joy. 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 20

The most beautiful picture of the literal reward of the redeemed I have ever read! 

The redeemed will meet and recognize those whose attention they have directed to the uplifted Saviour. What blessed converse they have with these souls! "I was a sinner," it will be said, "without God and without hope in the world, and you came to me, and drew my attention to the precious Saviour as my only hope. And I believed in Him. I repented of my sins, and was made to sit together with His saints in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Others will say: "I was a heathen in heathen lands. You left your friends and comfortable home, and came to teach me how to find Jesus and believe in Him as the only true God. I demolished my idols and worshiped God, and now I see Him face to face. I am saved, eternally saved, ever to behold Him whom I love. I then saw Him only with the eye of faith, but now I see Him as He is. I can now express my gratitude for His redeeming mercy to Him who loved me and washed me from my sins in His own blood." 
     Others will express their gratitude to those who fed the hungry and clothed the naked. "When despair bound my soul in unbelief, the Lord sent you to me," they say, "to speak words of hope and comfort. You brought me food for my physical necessities, and you opened to me the word of God, awakening me to my spiritual needs. You treated me as a brother. You sympathized with me in my sorrows and restored my bruised and wounded soul so that I could grasp the hand of Christ that was reached out to save me. In my ignorance you taught me patiently that I had a Father in heaven who cared for me. You read to me the precious promises of God's word.
You inspired in me faith that He would save me. My heart was softened, subdued, broken, as I contemplated the sacrifice which Christ had made for me. I became hungry for the bread of life, and the truth was precious to my soul. I am here, saved, eternally saved, ever to live in His presence, and to praise Him who gave His life for me." (Volume 6, Testimonies to the Church, page 311)

India 2014

The privilege of wiping a tear from the eye of a child in India is worth more than the comfort of the American dream for a lifetime. 

I have finally received my visa for India (a ten year multi-entry visa). I will fly to India January 13th. For me, it is as Amy Carmichael, missionary to India, put it, "a chance to die." What greater privilege is there than sacrificial service? Most live a lifetime without ever discovering it's immortal pleasures. Be not a stranger to love, beloved. Give and live.