Tag Archives: Authority

The Omniscient One

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He knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb is what David tells us about God knowing us before any physical manifestation of us. He knows every hair on our heads is what Matthew tells us about God’s complete knowledge of us in our physical manifestation. And those who are dead in Christ will meet Him in the air is what Paul tells us, revealing God’s knowledge of us even after our physical death. This is the God who created humans, having full knowledge that we would sin against Him. Having that full knowledge He created us anyway and before creating us He had a plan to save us from the penalty, practice and presence of sin—salvation through belief in Jesus Christ and His resurrection from a death that paid the price for our sin. God’s all knowingness, His omniscience, is ever present and continually impacts our lives. I saw His omniscience at work in one major way while on break; God knew what I was in store for during the time of my break so I believe He had me take a break exactly when I did.

A friend of mine is experiencing the greatest challenge of her life and issues surrounding this challenge got deeper while on my blogging break in July but came to a head this month while on break from leading my discipleship group. God knew I needed to rest up in July and have my schedule free in August so I could be there emotionally, physically and spiritually for my friend. I have had the strength to cry with her, sing hymns to her, pray and fast for her, create bible studies for her, and walk with her through and hold her accountable to applying these bible studies. The time has been intense, but God’s omniscience equipped me for one of the biggest fights in my life on behalf of a dear friend.

Do you see God’s omniscience in your life? Yes, I know you have probably been in awe of His knowing you before forming you, that He knows every hair on your head and that He knows where to find and how to bring you to heaven. But have you stopped to think about his omniscience in your daily life? What is the implication of His knowing you before forming you and that He knows every hair on your head? How does God’s knowledge impact your life right now? God’s all knowingness goes beyond bible trivia and can help us take a broader view of and cope with what happens to us, especially when we don’t understand. His omniscience surrounding my breaks helped me see greater that His thoughts and ways are higher than my thoughts and ways and they give me exactly what I need.

Copyright 2010 by Rhonda J. Smith

Understand God Fearing

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“I am not a Christian but I am a follower of Jesus Christ.” “I don’t like organized religion, but I believe in Jesus Christ.” “I don’t go to church because Christians are hypocrites.” “I get more love from my friends in the world than the people in the church.” No doubt you have heard many of these statements; you may have said them yourself. Each of them makes an indictment against those who call themselves Christians. These folks are saying that the title Christian, the spiritual movement of Christianity and the people that call themselves Christians don’t represent a God that they would want to serve. If Christians and Christianity is all about what I see, then I don’t want no part of it, they say. I believe that people who are open to Jesus Christ and not His people or institution are that way because too many Christians don’t fear God.

Remember, to fear God means that you don’t seek to gratify yourself but you seek to please God on His terms. Too many of us satisfy ourselves and mar the title Christian and the Christianity movement where people can’t see lives radically different from non-Christians, especially those who don’t claim any religion at all. The book of Judges, particularly chapters 17 and 21, talks about the Israelites not having a king to rule them. During these times the king was theocratic, representing the rule of God, so when there was no king, there was no representation of God present so “(e)veryone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). This lack of God ruling in their lives caused them to worship idols, disrespect and abuse spouses, become proud, and do other things that you would only expect from those not believing in God. Our not fearing God is akin to not having a king; there is no rule of God represented in our hearts so we do whatever we want to do. Understand when you don’t fear God, others won’t fear God and have no reason to want to make Jesus Christ Savior and Lord of their lives. Why would they want to bother with what they see as a God whose followers are ungodly? They believe they have a better chance at goodness without a God, or at least the Christian one.

This, Christians, is one reason we must fear God. Our Christian testimony is at stake; souls are at stake and we can no longer be the blame for that. We must fear God and represent that Christ Jesus is worthy to be served even as one calling herself a Christian, even as one participating in Christianity and even as one attending a local church assembly. Christian must be synonymous to God fearing and only we can make that happen.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Seeking Your Leaders

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Sometimes we don’t know how not to be ourselves. We may immediately speak what’s on our mind, to tell the truth to someone in darkness, even though scripture tells us to be slow to speak, quick to hear and slow to wrath (James 1:9). Maybe it’s not swift speaking. Maybe it’s something good like cleaning the house or paying bills when God would have us do something more beneficial at the time. Or maybe it’s like with me, relying upon my own ability to hear from God. We just do what we do because we’ve always done it that way and it’s easy for us, convenient for us. In these instances God has to step in to help us. This was the case with me.

God made me as one who has a strong desire for His presence through direct contact with Him. Seeking Him for myself has been a strength for me. I rarely seek the direction of authority figures in my life because I haven’t felt a need to. Well, God showed me that I must go to them because they are there to lead me. I knew this intellectually (Hebrews 13:7 & 17) but would not allow this truth to manifest physically. God allowed me to become spiritually weak so that His purpose for leadership placed in my life might be fulfilled. I needed humbling and to recognize that I wasn’t treating my leaders like His representatives. It was natural for me to count on myself.

Like the Apostle Paul, God has allowed me to experience some wonderful things in the spirit. To ensure that I didn’t boast about these experiences (and even dismiss the spiritual effectiveness of my leaders), I, like Paul, had to receive a thorn in my flesh. God knew that Paul’s natural tendency would be haughtiness. He knew the same for me. He sent me the thorn of spiritual dryness so I could seek refreshment from my leaders. And as God would have it, they had words of life and light for me in two areas of darkness that I had been groping in. Spiritual self-reliance—arrogance—is dangerous. Even with knowing the voice of God, as blogger Milan Ford says, it’s always good to still check in with Eli for direction.
Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Marital Roles

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I remember reading an analogy in PB Wilson’s Liberated Through Submission about the daily requirement of submission from all people. She talked about driving and the need to yield (submit) to other drivers, particularly when merging in traffic. It’s not that the other drivers are better than you; it’s just that for the safety of all, yielding is necessary. This helped me see my role in submission in marriage differently. Her description in no way gave a picture of a doormat to be stepped on, but an act necessary for the benefit of all. This is the picture that Scripture paints.

Men and women in general, and husbands and wives more specifically, are the same in value in Jesus Christ’s sight (Galatians 3:28), and He requires mutual consideration in marriage, but each spouse has been called to different functions. I believe this is so for there to be order in the marriage (1 Corinthians 11:3-12). Two main functions for the husband are provider and protector and for the wife, submitter and respecter.

The husband was called from the beginning to be a provider and protector when he was told to dress (work) and keep (protect) the garden (Genesis 2:5-17). God didn’t change his mind about man’s responsibilities in marriage when he laid out the duties of sanctifier, nourisher, cherisher, cleanser and lover in Ephesians 5. Each of these duties fall under provider and protector and require the husband to do so spiritually, physically and emotionally (See also 1 Corinthians 7:3, Colossians 3:19 and 1 Peter 3:7). The husband is compared to Jesus Christ and the woman to the church (Christians). So just like Christians are to submit to and respect Christ, so are wives to submit to and respect their husbands. Jesus Christ is the perfect provider and protector, and through Him a husband can seek to fulfill these roles in marriage. And Christ was perfect in submission and the respect of others, and through Him we can do the same for our husbands.

The major roles of each spouse don’t exclude the other from operating in the other’s roles from time to time when appropriate, but they are not the other’s primary responsibilities. So strong black woman, you don’t need no man to provide for or to protect you, but if you’re married this is what God requires that husbands do for you. Don’t let a bad attitude or a confusion of roles keep you from receiving blessings from your husband. Remember, each spouse seeking to fully operate in their function is biblical equality.

Copyright 2009 by Rhonda J. Smith

Trust Issues

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Being controlling means not trusting. Whether we are a subordinate usurping our leader’s control or a leader abusing our subordinates, the bottom line is a trust issue. We may say that we don’t trust others to do the job the way we would. That’s why we tell them how to do it or we simply do the job ourselves. We may even justify speaking harshly to someone because that’s the only way we believe we’ll get results. We say we don’t trust others to respond properly, but we really don’t trust God with others; we don’t believe that God can, or will, direct them to behave the way we want them to. And we believe the way we want them to behave is the best way. If God has other notions we don’t always want to hear them, let alone allow them to be executed.

This is what I realized when God told me to call my sister (See ‘Lose Control’). I justified that it was too early even though the God of the universe, who knows everything, told me to call her. I didn’t trust God, my personal savior, to handle my life because I wasn’t allowing Him to be my lord (master). My pastor, Christopher W. Brooks, gave an excellent sermon on this very issue. Following are some excerpts from that message titled “Who’s the Boss,” which is part one of the series “The Master’s Plan for Your Life.” If you want the entire message go to www.evangelministries.org.

Thought One: “Most of us don’t fully trust God so we don’t submit to Him.”

Thought Two: “God never reveals His master plan for your life until you trust Him as the master of your life.”

Thought Three: whos-the-boss-clip

Copyright 2009 By Rhonda J. Smith