God's Phone Number

God’s Phone Number

“Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3

Why is it that we think we can take care of everything by our self?  Don’t you realize that God is closer than the nearest phone?  When you call his number the answer is right there, “I am here and there is so much I want to show you; things that you don’t know anything about.”  There is nothing that he can’t help you with; you don’t have to face things alone.

Years ago when I first began ministering, it was so exciting that I didn’t even realize that I put my plans in motion and then told God what I was going to do.  One day I prayed and asked God if he would tell me what was in the future for my ministry.  I called on God and he answered me, but he didn’t show me great and mighty things. His answer to me was, “If I told you what was to come, you would get in my way”!

That taught me a great lesson; don’t get ahead of God.  This is a struggle for me because I am of a strong nature and I love planning and advancing quickly with my ideas.  Then I am reminded to not leave God out of the equation.

In Old Testament days, if people still weren’t sure what they should do they would send out a fleece. Example was Gideon in Judges 6:36 when he lay the fleece of a lamb or goat on the ground and asked God that when morning had come that the ground would be dry but the fleece would be wet.  Then he would know that he was doing what God wanted him to do.  The fleece was all wet in the morning, but still Gideon was not sure so he tested God again. Again God gave Gideon the sign to go ahead with what God wanted him to do.

In the New Testament God gave his people instruction on matters of decision. 2 Corinthian 13:1 says it like this, "By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established."  I found this to be true many years ago.  When we were first saved, my husband and I decided to study the Bible, we found in Malachi that we should be tithing.  Neither one of us knew anything about tithing 10% of our income to the church. We weren’t quite convinced that we should tithe because we had a really tight budget and I mean tight.

The next day I received a Christian magazine in the mail and it had a big article about tithing.  I went to work that morning and when I turned on the car radio, a man was talking about blessings of tithing.  That evening we were at the dinner table, and the TV was on in the living room which we could see from where we sat.  Would you believe a man was speaking on tithing?  All three of these encounters in one day spoke about Malachi 3:8-10 "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.”

From that day on, so many years ago, we have not missed a tithe and God has blessed us in so many ways.  I would not dream of ‘not tithing’, even if we could not be in church, we made it up the following week.  I have heard many say, “We just can’t afford to tithe.  I look at it this way, I can’t afford to not tithe!  We called on God and he answered us.  We must accept his answer.  It’s always the best thing to do. 

Most of us make big decisions as we travel though life.  Don’t move on these things before calling on God.  He has the best answer.  We are in the process of wanting to move and we need to sell our house before we buy another one.  We have had two witnesses that I believe are from God and I’m waiting on the third one.  I have asked God about it and if he says ‘no’ that will be it, but if there is a third witness we will know to go ahead with the plans.

God loves us so much he wants the very best for our lives, in fact in  3 John 1:2 he gives us this message “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

Isaiah 55:6