As I read the Word of God, I cannot help but to believe in Providence. I don't know who said, "Plan your work and then work your plan," but I do 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
God is ever watching over us; "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
A good definition of Divine Providence is the doctrine that God actively guides, governs, and intervenes in the universe and the lives of individuals, sustaining creation, working toward His ultimate purpose, and accomplishing His will. Actually universally all religions believe in Providence in some measure. I read that Aristotle believed Providence was mere opinion. What he thought reminds me of the man that could not go with his friends to an event because his wife would not let him go. One of his friends said to him, "I can't believe that he would allow a mere woman to control his life like this, by telling him what he could or could not do." I will never forget how he replied to his friend. He said, "If you knew my wife you would know, you would never think of her as a ‘mere' woman."
I remember times when providence had my complete attention. I was in South Africa and we were making my first trip in to the Kruger National Forest, we would be staying with a Professional Hunter was a retire pastor, in the lower part of the region.
Our friend Yan Venter was driving us and we were in a caravan of three cars while Yan and I spent almost a daylong drive to get to the compound, which looked like Jurassic Park. God had spoken to me to buy a pair of sunglasses for the professional Hunter and they had to be like Highway Patrol sunglasses that wrapped around the eye, which was a very specific instruction. I remember we stopped in every town we traveled through where I could look for this, specific type of eyewear. We stopped in five different towns and had no luck. We could have purchased lesser and least types of sunglasses, but God would not let me pick out just any of the many I had found. It had to be a specific pair. Finally we stopped at one last store that was an Optometrist before going over the mountain that would lead us down into Elephant Walk and into the Compound after sunset. I remember the sunglasses were expensive, but they were exactly the ones that God put on my heart to buy for the owner of compound where we would stay for the weeklong experience of a lifetime.
As we arrived and got settled in I gave the gift to the professional hunter and owner of the compound that was actually located inside the Kruger.
Now for the rest of this Providential story. We returned to the same compound a little less that a year later, and as we arrived the Professional Hunter met us as we came into the compound and here is the conclusion of Providential Obedience:
He said, "Cleddie, you save my life without taking a breath. He asked, "do you remember the sunglasses you gave me when you were here last?" I answered, sure I remember them, how could I forget the trouble we went to find that specific pair of eyewear. He continued, "I drove into the compound one day and everyone was in the yard. The cooks were outside the house, terrorized by what was going on in the kitchen. My two Jack Russell Terriers were in the house barking and sounding like a burglar alarm with their continual yelping. The help was crying, ‘SNAKE!' If I had been there, I too would have been on the run.There are two things I hate; and they are both snakes." My friend went in to see what all the commotion was about. Just as he stuck his head around the large tile and concrete built in centerpiece, where the dogs were making all the noise, a spitting cobra spit right in his face. "If I had not had the sun glasses on that you gave me, I would have died on the spot," he said. I believe in providence, but I believe in providential obedience as well.
I often say that, "nothing gives a man more dignity than to know he can hear the voice of God." He speaks to those who have an ear to hear and we need God to fine tune us, "He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the church." DO YOU KNOW HIS VOICE? The Bible makes it clear, "My sheep know my voice."
I knew that day that I had to buy those sunglasses, even when it made those traveling with us a little unhappy as we stopped again and again, looking for what they did not understand. We just never know how important our obedience is. Providence could be defined as: The preservation, care, and government, which God exercises over all things He has created, in order that they may accomplish the ends for which they were created. It is also defined as: The forecasting and guardianship of God over his creatures… A manifestation of His divine care of direction. American College Dictionary. We can summarize from these two definitions that providence is: The divine intervention in the affairs of man within the confines of natural law to bring about God's objectives.
God in His providence had created the world for a purpose, and He governs it in such a manner that nothing can thwart that purpose -- Job 42:2. There are disruptions however, but He is ever in control. Whatever He allows is meant to further aid the fulfillment of His purpose, be it in the lives of individuals or nations. God as revealed that, in His Word is the Ultimate Power and Supreme Being. He created all things both visible and invisible. He designs their destinies, purposes, and He governs His world to the extent that, in the end they will carry out His will. The love of God for mankind from eternity past will help us to understand that in the providential nature of God He has our interest at heart. Be that as it may, this love of God is guided toward the fulfillment of His global purposes. In His love for man, which is unique, unparalleled, and unquantifiable, He created us in His own image and made us the administrators of His entire world. He empowers and commissions us to subdue and rule over His world. He puts all other creatures under our control -- Gen. 1:26-28 & Psalm 4:4-8. God has the power and ability to work within the circumstances of human activity to bring about His desire. His Providence is usually employed to facilitate the journey of those whose hearts are longing to find and serve Him. Instances of this abound in the Bible.
The life of a Christian resembles the works of a watch. What we see, is that certain wheels which turn in a counter-clockwise direction are attached to other wheels that are working in a clockwise direction. Our first though may be that the watchmaker is either foolish or confused, but he is neither. Rather, he has so arranged the works of this watch and put in a mainspring to govern all its wheel, so that when wound, one wheel turns clockwise and another counter-clockwise, though all work together to move the hands around face of the watch at precisely the right speed. Many wheels appear to counteract each other, but they all work together for the identical purpose of revealing accurate time. Such is the symbolic life of God's people. Some wheels in our lives run clockwise, which provide hope that the events of our lives, directed by God's purpose, are good for us, but other acts of God's providence seem to run counter-clockwise, i.e. seems to run against us. Only when our eyes of faith are fixed on the great watch maker, who has planned everything in His all wise decree, do we see and understand that He has placed the main spring of free grace within our "watch life," so all providential and spiritual wheels work together for our welfare. God will work all things together to produce a divine and blessed result according to his sovereign good pleasure and eternal Counsel. Copied from Our Saviors Church. Lagos Nigeria.
Your act of kindness may save someone's life. I believe in Providence, it is God's hand in the glove of a man or woman, working to perform His will and purpose in the earth. A glove that has no hand in it can do nothing. We can all be used of God. He works in us both to will and do of His own good pleasure. Will you say yes to His purpose being fulfilled through life? Only God knows what He can do through one act of your obedience.
Your Provident Servant,
Pastor Cleddie Keith
God is ever watching over us; "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
A good definition of Divine Providence is the doctrine that God actively guides, governs, and intervenes in the universe and the lives of individuals, sustaining creation, working toward His ultimate purpose, and accomplishing His will. Actually universally all religions believe in Providence in some measure. I read that Aristotle believed Providence was mere opinion. What he thought reminds me of the man that could not go with his friends to an event because his wife would not let him go. One of his friends said to him, "I can't believe that he would allow a mere woman to control his life like this, by telling him what he could or could not do." I will never forget how he replied to his friend. He said, "If you knew my wife you would know, you would never think of her as a ‘mere' woman."
I remember times when providence had my complete attention. I was in South Africa and we were making my first trip in to the Kruger National Forest, we would be staying with a Professional Hunter was a retire pastor, in the lower part of the region.
Our friend Yan Venter was driving us and we were in a caravan of three cars while Yan and I spent almost a daylong drive to get to the compound, which looked like Jurassic Park. God had spoken to me to buy a pair of sunglasses for the professional Hunter and they had to be like Highway Patrol sunglasses that wrapped around the eye, which was a very specific instruction. I remember we stopped in every town we traveled through where I could look for this, specific type of eyewear. We stopped in five different towns and had no luck. We could have purchased lesser and least types of sunglasses, but God would not let me pick out just any of the many I had found. It had to be a specific pair. Finally we stopped at one last store that was an Optometrist before going over the mountain that would lead us down into Elephant Walk and into the Compound after sunset. I remember the sunglasses were expensive, but they were exactly the ones that God put on my heart to buy for the owner of compound where we would stay for the weeklong experience of a lifetime.
As we arrived and got settled in I gave the gift to the professional hunter and owner of the compound that was actually located inside the Kruger.
Now for the rest of this Providential story. We returned to the same compound a little less that a year later, and as we arrived the Professional Hunter met us as we came into the compound and here is the conclusion of Providential Obedience:
He said, "Cleddie, you save my life without taking a breath. He asked, "do you remember the sunglasses you gave me when you were here last?" I answered, sure I remember them, how could I forget the trouble we went to find that specific pair of eyewear. He continued, "I drove into the compound one day and everyone was in the yard. The cooks were outside the house, terrorized by what was going on in the kitchen. My two Jack Russell Terriers were in the house barking and sounding like a burglar alarm with their continual yelping. The help was crying, ‘SNAKE!' If I had been there, I too would have been on the run.There are two things I hate; and they are both snakes." My friend went in to see what all the commotion was about. Just as he stuck his head around the large tile and concrete built in centerpiece, where the dogs were making all the noise, a spitting cobra spit right in his face. "If I had not had the sun glasses on that you gave me, I would have died on the spot," he said. I believe in providence, but I believe in providential obedience as well.
I often say that, "nothing gives a man more dignity than to know he can hear the voice of God." He speaks to those who have an ear to hear and we need God to fine tune us, "He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the church." DO YOU KNOW HIS VOICE? The Bible makes it clear, "My sheep know my voice."
I knew that day that I had to buy those sunglasses, even when it made those traveling with us a little unhappy as we stopped again and again, looking for what they did not understand. We just never know how important our obedience is. Providence could be defined as: The preservation, care, and government, which God exercises over all things He has created, in order that they may accomplish the ends for which they were created. It is also defined as: The forecasting and guardianship of God over his creatures… A manifestation of His divine care of direction. American College Dictionary. We can summarize from these two definitions that providence is: The divine intervention in the affairs of man within the confines of natural law to bring about God's objectives.
God in His providence had created the world for a purpose, and He governs it in such a manner that nothing can thwart that purpose -- Job 42:2. There are disruptions however, but He is ever in control. Whatever He allows is meant to further aid the fulfillment of His purpose, be it in the lives of individuals or nations. God as revealed that, in His Word is the Ultimate Power and Supreme Being. He created all things both visible and invisible. He designs their destinies, purposes, and He governs His world to the extent that, in the end they will carry out His will. The love of God for mankind from eternity past will help us to understand that in the providential nature of God He has our interest at heart. Be that as it may, this love of God is guided toward the fulfillment of His global purposes. In His love for man, which is unique, unparalleled, and unquantifiable, He created us in His own image and made us the administrators of His entire world. He empowers and commissions us to subdue and rule over His world. He puts all other creatures under our control -- Gen. 1:26-28 & Psalm 4:4-8. God has the power and ability to work within the circumstances of human activity to bring about His desire. His Providence is usually employed to facilitate the journey of those whose hearts are longing to find and serve Him. Instances of this abound in the Bible.
The life of a Christian resembles the works of a watch. What we see, is that certain wheels which turn in a counter-clockwise direction are attached to other wheels that are working in a clockwise direction. Our first though may be that the watchmaker is either foolish or confused, but he is neither. Rather, he has so arranged the works of this watch and put in a mainspring to govern all its wheel, so that when wound, one wheel turns clockwise and another counter-clockwise, though all work together to move the hands around face of the watch at precisely the right speed. Many wheels appear to counteract each other, but they all work together for the identical purpose of revealing accurate time. Such is the symbolic life of God's people. Some wheels in our lives run clockwise, which provide hope that the events of our lives, directed by God's purpose, are good for us, but other acts of God's providence seem to run counter-clockwise, i.e. seems to run against us. Only when our eyes of faith are fixed on the great watch maker, who has planned everything in His all wise decree, do we see and understand that He has placed the main spring of free grace within our "watch life," so all providential and spiritual wheels work together for our welfare. God will work all things together to produce a divine and blessed result according to his sovereign good pleasure and eternal Counsel. Copied from Our Saviors Church. Lagos Nigeria.
Your act of kindness may save someone's life. I believe in Providence, it is God's hand in the glove of a man or woman, working to perform His will and purpose in the earth. A glove that has no hand in it can do nothing. We can all be used of God. He works in us both to will and do of His own good pleasure. Will you say yes to His purpose being fulfilled through life? Only God knows what He can do through one act of your obedience.
Your Provident Servant,
Pastor Cleddie Keith