The spiritual journey He wants to take us on is above and beyond our comfort zone. If we are seeking His will then we can't expect things to stay the same.  We can't expect to be able to do and say the same things every single time.  We can't be lulled into thinking that the things we've always done are good enough. Moment by moment we must press toward the mark of pleasing God.

A long time ago I went with my family and friends to a water area that we called the "jumping hole."  There was a platform that we climbed up and we jumped off of a ledge.  I'm not fond of jumping from up high and it was easier to hold someone's hand and count to three.  Jumping with someone else gave me courage. Shall we go for a spiritual leap together?  Let's leave our comfort zones behind and jump out.  I have a feeling that God's arms are waiting to catch us.

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." God puts great emphasis on our relationships with other people.  It is only second to our relationship with Him! 

 He not only wants us to love people, He wants us to be humble in front of them.  God expects us to be clothed with humility.  What does it mean to be clothed?  It means covered so that what is underneath does not show.  What is underneath?  Our SELF!  Our prideful self!

Those are probably the hardest things in the world to do... love everyone else as much as we love ourselves and humble ourselves.  They aren't just hard to do, they are impossible if we don't allow God to help us. I'm reading an excellent book called Humility by Andrew Murray.  It is a short book but very powerful.  It shows how humility is what God requires of us.  It is a very good book.  It gives a lot of examples of how Jesus was humble and how He expects us to follow His example. 

A few quotes:
"Humility is nothing but the disappearance of self in the vision that God is all."

One of my favorites:
"Let us look upon everyone who tries us as God's means of grace, God's instrument for our purification, for our exercise of the humility of Jesus."

"Humility before God is nothing if it is not proven in humility before others." (If you are interested in getting this book for yourself try this link.)  Dying-to-self is a big step toward being humble and humility leads to holiness.  Dying-to-self and holiness are lessons God has been teaching me and I've been sharing with you.  They are tightly linked together.  The book I'm reading also shows how we cannot have faith without humility.  So, humility is a very important lesson to learn if we want to go to the next level in our relationship with God!

God won't require something from us that is impossible.  He will equip us.  We just have to desire to be in His will and ask Him to help us.  It's a choice.  Think about it this way:  do you want to look good in the eyes of the people around you or do you want to look good in the eyes of God?  Are you a man-pleaser or a God-pleaser?

 When you ask God for forgiveness, do you name the specific things you did wrong?  Do you ever ask forgiveness for the things that you did wrong that you don't remember or that you didn't know were wrong?

1John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

 We must confess our sins.  We must confess the ones that we knew were sins and we need to do like David did and ask forgiveness from those "secret faults". Notice how David also asked God to not let sins have dominion over him.  David wanted to be holy.  He wanted all the words he spoke, the thoughts he thought, and the things he did to be acceptable to God.  He was striving to be holy, to be sinless.

Right after I had my "Big Wow" experience (where I discovered that God and I could actually carry on a conversation) I went to my Bible and began to read the Psalms.  I knew that David had a special relationship with God and I wanted to learn more from his experiences. Even when things were going horribly wrong David knew that God was his strength, his comfort, his peace, his deliverer, and the Rock on which he stood. 

We can learn a lot from David's experiences.  We can have an even more intimate relationship with God by stepping off from what we have learned and being ahead of where we would be if we began with no knowledge at all. David knew it was possible to achieve holiness and desired it.   Holiness begins with a desire to not sin any more and is followed by getting cleansed from all prior sins.  We need to go to God with our cry for help.  He can unearth all those secret and presumptuous things that hinder our being able to be walking in His will.

So, the ark was loaded up on a cart and two priests drove the cart.  The oxen shook the cart and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark.  So, what was wrong with that?  As was said, David's heart was right.  He was doing this for all the right reasons.  Uzzah's heart was right.  He didn't want the ark to fall.  Yet, God had laid out the rules for carrying the ark and it was supposed to be carried by men using the staves (poles) that ran through the rings along its side and not placed on a cart!

Farther ahead in Chapter 7 verses 2-3 we find another example of someone's heart being right.  David consulted Nathan, a prophet, about building a temple to house the ark.  Nathan responded that David should do what he felt since David was chosen by God and was doing what God wanted him to do already.  Yet, that night, God told Nathan that he gave David the wrong answer.  God didn't want David to build the temple.

God has particular ideas on how He wants things to be.  We can't assume that we know what God wants and how He wants it.  There is way too much assumption taking place in the church and in the Body of Christ.  We do things for God without consulting Him and expect Him to be happy about it.  After all, we are doing it for Him, right?  So, why wouldn't He like it? God is into details.  Take a look at all the instructions he gave on making the tabernacle, the ark, and all the things that went into the tabernacle.  He was very specific. 

God didn't send Paul out to spread the gospel anywhere Paul wanted to go.  In Romans 1:10-13 it shows where Paul was asking God if he could go to Rome and God hadn't let him. Everything we do must be cleared through God.  He doesn't want us to find out "what works" and continue doing it.  Here's an example using David again.  When the enemy was causing trouble David went to God and checked with Him.

"Then David enquired of the LORD yet again [whether or not to go to battle...showing he had done it before]. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand."
1Samuel 23:4

God told him to go ahead.

"And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all."
1Samuel 30:8

God, again, told him to go ahead.

"And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron."
2Samuel 2:1

God, again, told him to go ahead.

"And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand."
2Samuel 5:19

God, again, told him to go ahead.

How many times have you been given the OK by God to do something and then automatically assume it is OK the second time?  Here we see where at least four times David had been told to go ahead by God.  Yet, the next time David asks the answer is different.  It was still an assurance that he would win the battle, but the way of doing it was different, very different. 

God was going to go out ahead of David, as evidenced by the rustling in the treetops (verse 24).  Now why?  Why did God want to do it differently?  I don't know, but the fact remains... HE DID! "And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees."
2Samuel 5:23

Over and over in the Bible we see where God doesn't do the same thing every time.  He wants us to seek His will in every situation.  Even though we can't see the why's of the particular way He wants us to do something that doesn't matter.  He knows the why.  He can see the short- and long-term effects.

There are a lot of other Bible studies here giving examples of why we shouldn't assume things about God.  You can find them by going to the Clarion Call search engine and typing in the word assume.

People:  don't think you already know what God wants you to do just because He had you do it once before.

Churches:  don't think that God wants you to follow the same routine every week just because you've always done it that way, because other churches do it that way, or because God once told you it was OK. God is a God of details.

 Let's find out the details of every single thing, every single minute of every single day... FROM HIM!

It doesn't work that way! We can't pick and choose from the things of God.  We can't just take the things we prefer to believe and discard the rest! 

Yet, that exact thing happens in most churches! Most churches do what they do either because they have always done it that way, other churches do it that way, it is easier, it is cheaper, or for some other reason that is not a spiritual reason.

We need to approach God with an open mind and a willing heart on a daily basis.  Actually, it is more like a minute-to-minute basis.  We mustn't approach him as we would a catalog:  I'll take one of these, I don't want that, I'll take two of those... We need to approach Him with the intention of saying, "Yes, Lord," no matter what He wants! 

He may not want the same thing today as He did yesterday.  We can't automatically do something just because He wanted us to do it before unless He told us to do it every time!

Often God has us doing something that is not fun and that we would prefer not to do.  He has His reasons!  We must make a decision.  Are we going to be obedient or are we going to choose to refuse what God wants?

Why should I do something I don't want to do?  Let's see.... one really big reason is because Jesus did something HUGE for me and He would have preferred to not do it.  My discomfort is a tiny speck compared to His! What's it going to be?  Are you going to turn away from God and refuse to do as He directs or are you going to say, "Yes, Lord"?

Do you know what leprosy is?  At webmd.com I found a description:

1. Tuberculoid leprosy is a mild form of the disease. It causes mainly skin problems and a thickening of the nerves close to the skin.
2. Lepromatous leprosy is a more severe and widespread form of leprosy. It can affect many parts of the body, resulting in the destruction of bone and cartilage, development of lumps under the skin, and blindness. Even today, the medication that they use may control how quickly it progresses but rarely resolves symptoms completely. 

So, leprosy is basically an incurable disease.  The Bible mentions people being "white as snow" with leprosy.  That's why God had the law that lepers had to stay away from people.

So, Naaman was walking away because he was so sure he knew that Elisha was not telling him the truth! He was sure that the way to get someone healed was to wave your hand over the person's body and call on God's name and invoke a healing. Then he changed his thinking a little and decided, in his own logical mind, that if dipping in a river was the way to get healed then it wouldn't be a dirty river like the Jordan, but a river with sparkling clean water!  His servants were the ones who were open-minded about it and convinced him to do it.

How can we apply this to our lives today?  What things do we "know" about the things of God and about God, Himself, that we deduced using our logical minds?  What things do we "know" that somebody else determined with their logical mind and then taught those things to us?  What things were determined hundreds of years ago using logic and then have been passed down from generation to generation and are now resting with us?

As I have in the past, I once again point out how many different denominations and sub-denominations there are.  They all have Bibles and they all have the same God, yet look at the different things they teach about God.  Where did they get their information? I, for one, sincerely hope I didn't miss something God wanted to do through me that I didn't allow Him to do because I was SURE I knew the right thing.

 It is imperative that we remain open-minded about the things of God and allow Him to confirm whether they are what He wants us to believe or not.  This goes for EVERYTHING about God.

 Let me point out just a few things. Do you believe:
you can lose your salvation?
you can never lose your salvation?
the gifts of the Spirit are no longer in existence?
God doesn't punish people?
God doesn't care if you _ _ _ _ _ _ (drink, smoke, cuss, drive fast, tell white lies, etc.)?
God won't do the things He did in the Old Testament?

That list is just to help you get started.  Everything that you believe God will and won't do, that you believe about what God wants and expects, and that has anything to do with what you think about God and the things of God should be considered.

Think about where and how you came up with your conclusions.  Did you form an opinion based on what you were taught or did God reveal it to you?  To put it simply, God has to verify that the things you believe are true.

Just because you know a scripture that confirms it isn't enough.  Every single denomination that exists has scriptures that they use to back their beliefs, yet their beliefs are different.  People have scriptures to back their belief that they cannot lose their salvation.  On the other hand, there are people who have scriptures to back their belief that they can lose their salvation.  All those confirmation scriptures come from the same Bible!

 It is extremely important and necessary that all beliefs that you hold, no matter where you got them, be confirmed by God that they are what He wants you to believe. The thing that Naaman thought made a lot of sense.  It was probably true that Elisha could have come out, waved his hand over the leprous areas, and asked God to heal them.  Elisha listened to what God was wanting and did it the way God said. 

God has a reason for everything that He does.  We may not see the reason or the reason may not fit into what we feel is logical but that doesn't mean it isn't God's will!  God doesn't always do things the same way.  Even when God directs us to do something a particular way one time that doesn't necessarily mean He wants us to do it that way all the time.

Over and over and over I have urged people to keep an open mind about the things of God.  It is imperative that we do if we are to be fully used by Him. We must not hang on to the traditions of men, the opinions of men, or the teachings of men.  We can only use those things as guidelines or as suggestions.  The real teaching comes from God via the Holy Spirit.

"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him."
1Jo 2:27

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."
Jo 14:26

 That teaching goes on minute by minute.  We cannot even take something God did in our lives and say that would be the way He would always do it.  He might do it differently for other people or He might do it differently again in your life.  We cannot say, "God always...." unless God tells us, "I always...."! If you think that you are not hanging on to any beliefs that aren't in God's will then there is one way to find out if you are right.  That's right... ask God about it.  Oh, and don't forget to be listening for the answer!

Is it a bad thing to teach about those other things?  No, of course not.  They are true things and we need to know about them.  However, there is still the fear of the Lord.

This verse in Acts is the only place in the New Testament where the complete phrase "fear of the Lord" is used.  In my Strong's concordance the word fear means, "be afraid".

We need to take into consideration all the things the Bible teaches us about God, don't we?  It is more comfortable to pick and choose the things that we prefer, however.

The Old Testament has twenty-nine examples of the phrase.  Let's take a look at thirteen of them out of Psalms and Proverbs:

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever."
Ps 111:10

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Prov 1:17

"For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD:"
Prov 1:29

"Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God."
Prov 2:5

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."
Prov 8:13

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding."
Prov 9:10

"The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened."
Prov 10:27

"In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge."
Prov 14:26

"The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death."
Prov 14:27

"The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility."
Prov 15:33

"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
Prov 16:6

"The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil."
Prov 19:23

"By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."
Prov 22:4

It appears that we should learn more about fearing the Lord.  We need to quit thinking of God as a jolly Santa Claus or as our "buddy" or "pal".  We must quit picturing Him as a benevolent Sugar Daddy whose only concern is that we have whatever we want.  Churches must quit relegating Him to the back of the church, or even outside, while they plod through their traditional church services.

Over and over in various churches I have seen where God was invited for the worship service and then dismissed so the offering could be taken or the sermon be given.

I have seen where churches don't sing praise songs to God but, instead, sing songs all about what He has done for them and what they want Him to do.  They pretty much stand Him up in the front of the church and start reaching into His pockets to see what is there for them.

By not demonstrating or teaching about the fear of the Lord then that generally also removes any serious teaching about two other VERY IMPORTANT subjects.  Fear of the Lord leads into repentance.  Repentance is usually only mentioned in passing and is not the actual topic of discussion.  The word repent in the New Testament comes from words that mean "to think differently or reconsider".

Repentance is often mixed up with apology when it comes to forgiveness of sins.  Many times I've heard people told all they need to do is "ask Jesus into their heart" and ask Him to forgive them for their sins and they will "be saved".  Jesus calls us to repentance (Matt 4:17).  Repentance is life changing.

Repentance then leads to holiness.  That topic, too, is usually avoided in favor of more comfortable subjects.

The fear of the Lord is something we must have.  We must always remember that God is not a human.  He is the Creator of the Universe.  We need to approach Him with awe and hold Him in the high regard that He has earned.  Don't be fooled into thinking He turns a blind eye to the "tiny" sins we commit.  Don't imagine for a second that He doesn't really care if you are focusing more on your self than on Him.

Let's not minimize God and who He is by treating Him like "one of the gang".  He holds the universe in His hand.  Let's not forget that.

I received an email where a gentleman was looking for a Bible study regarding the Sabbath.  I'm pretty sure I haven't done a study on the Sabbath.  I used to wonder about it when I'd hear people discussing whether Saturday or Sunday was supposed to be the "real Sabbath".

God laid out a lot of rules in the Old Testament.  There were lots of rules on what to eat and when to eat it.  There were rules on sacrifices and jobs for people.  There were rules on holidays to celebrate and how to care for widows.  The rules for resting on the Sabbath were laid out as well as allowing the land to rest every seventh year.

God had to make rules for the people because they weren't able to figure these things out for themselves.  It's like the laws we have today.  They are because we can't figure these things out for ourselves, or because we don't want to do the right thing.

In California they had to pass a law saying people couldn't text on their phones while they were driving.  Can everyone say, "DUH"?  How can anyone sufficiently keep an eye on the road and drive safely while they have both hands on the steering wheel AND on their phone and while they are looking at their phone in order to text?  They can't even though they still keep trying.

Focusing on the Sabbath, think about what happens when you do not rest your body and mind.  It is bad for your health to work every single day of the week.  I know for a fact that when I am steadily focusing on technical, emotional, or mentally daunting tasks for too long then my entire body gives up.  I become a mental and physical wreck.

That's why it was so good for me to spend one day not thinking.  I spent my day watching television (not having to think), sewing on my cross-stitch project (all I had to think about was counting little x's), and playing games on my computer (nothing serious or brain-draining). 

Does God want us to spend a day resting and focusing on Him?  Absolutely!  Does He require it?  Not any more.  Does God want us paying attention to what we eat?  Yes.  Does He require it?  No.

The rules about sacrifices, Sabbath rest, Jubilee, Passover, food requirements, etc. all passed away when Jesus came with new rules.

What are the new rules?

Do you know?

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself."
Luke 10:27

How did those two rules take care of not having to follow all the old rules?  If you truly love God with all your heart and strength and mind then you will find out what He wants you to do and you will do it.  If He wants you resting all day every Sunday, or every Saturday, or every Monday for that matter then He'll let you know.

The Sabbath was created for man's benefit as Jesus said.  All the big hoopla in the New Testament about not doing things on the Sabbath was created by the zealous religious leaders of the day.  They weren't seeking God's will in the matter, they were choosing to slap people over the head with God's rule that God made for people's health.

The same gentleman that was looking for a Bible study on the Sabbath also inquired about a study on the Ten Commandments.  I'm going to include that study with this one. 

The second part of Luke 10:27 says to love your neighbor as yourself.  If you do that along with loving God then "POOF" there goes the need for the Ten Commandments.  You will not break any of them.  Here they are so you can see what I mean:

#1
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me"
Exodus 20:3

#2
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth"
 Exodus 20:4

#3
"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain"
Exodus 20:7

#4
"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"
Exodus 20:8

#5
"Honour thy father and thy mother"
Exodus 20:12

#6
"Thou shalt not kill"
Exodus 20:13

#7
"Thou shalt not commit adultery"
Exodus 20:14

#8
"Thou shalt not steal"
Exodus 20:15

#9
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour"
Exodus 20:16

#10
"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's"
Exodus 20:17