Proverbs 16:3 - Divine Relationship the Key.
Proverbs 16:3 - Divine Relationship the Key.
Proverbs 16:3 (KJV) Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy
thoughts shall be established.
Proverbs 16:3 (NIV) Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and
your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3 (NCV) Depend on the LORD in whatever you do, and
your plans will succeed.
THERE IS AN EXCELLENT 3 MINUTE VIDEO COMMENTARY ON THIS TEXT AT:
http://www.itiswritten.com/betterway/episode/2008/01/29
RELATIONSHIP IS THE KEY
Dear Child,
I watch you laboring and fretting and anxiously striving to
achieve things for me and my kingdom. Hear me. Your work is not my
primary concern. Your work is now, has always been, and always will be
secondary to your relationship with me.
What you do will flow out of your relationship with me as
irrigation streams flow out of a deep, clear, powerful river. The river
(the relationship) will set your motives and supply your strength.
Then your work will flow forth to honor me. Any time you allow your
work to come ahead of your relationship with me, you risk working
against me and my purposes.
Draw near to me and rest. Seek my will at every small turn.
Listen for my voice. Be filled with my Spirit. Then work with joy and
abandon!
The Source of your power,
God [PostCards from Heaven by Claire Cloninger]
When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes
possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never
accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural
element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes
His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends
that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept
in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the
assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of
Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be
under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that
are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary
for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness
in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to
ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate
with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart,
and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is
the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His
righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist
the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation
to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part
company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the
surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome.
Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion,
we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the
end. {DA 324.1}
Many Christians lack strength and victory in their thoughts.
They seem to have no control over them. This is so, even though we
have received from God not "the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Paul teaches us that God
has given Christians weapons that will enable them to bring "into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Proverbs 16:3 teaches us how we can have this victory. If we allow God to
take care of our works and commit everything to Him, He will also
take care of our thoughts. [Pilgrim SB]
The plans and deliberations out of which the "works" sprang
shall meet with a happy fulfilment, because they are undertaken
according to the will of God, and directed to the end by his guidance [The
Pulpit Commentary 1880-1919]
KEY FACTOR IN THIS RELATIONSHIP
When a man recognizes his own need and turns to the Lord for
guidance and help in every act and decision, then the powers of heaven
come to his aid and enable him to carry out the decisions reached
under the influence of the Holy Spirit. [SDA Commentary]
When we want God's direction, there are no halfway measures.
There will be times when we slip back, stumble and sin. These times
grow fewer as we seek and gain His direction. Progress comes when we
place our full confidence, our will and intellect, in the Lord. Does
this mean God wants us to stop thinking, stop being individuals,
become a robot? God forbid! He doesn't expect us to short circuit our
own mind. He just tells us not to go to that understanding with the
wrong assumptions. It is simple. Place your confidence in God,
wholly, on a matter. (To do so, you will have to pray and search His
Word to find out what it has to say on that matter.) This is putting
our thoughts before the Lord and His Word. As we do this, He will
give us the direction we need. Decide today to pay due respect to
God in all that is done. He will direct decisions, judgments, and
actions. And we can count on growing in our walk with Him. [In His Time;
Walk With Wisdom]
WAYS THE RELATIONSHIP FAILS
There are different ways to fail to commit whatever we do to the
Lord. Some people commit their work only superficially. They say the
project is being done for the Lord, but in reality they are doing it for
themselves. Others give God temporary control of their interests, only to
take control back the moment things stop going the way they expect.
Still others commit a task fully to the Lord, but put forth no effort
themselves, and then they wonder why they do not succeed. We must maintain a
delicate balance: trusting God as if everything depended on him, while
working as if everything depended on us. Think of a specific effort in
which you are involved right now. Have you committed it to the Lord?
[Life Application SB]
The natural inclination in Christian living is to act on the
impulse of a good idea. Not every good idea is from God. Sometimes good
ideas get in the way of God ideas.
Where does your inspiration come from? The vision of the
transfigured Christ inspired Peter: "O Lord, it is good for us to be here. If
you wish, I will put up three shelters - one for you, one for Moses
and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). Our natural impulse is to do
something good for God and suggest it to Him.
The tendency of the well-meaning person is to prepare a plan to
do some good idea, and then pray, "Jesus, this is my plan. It is a
good plan. It hurts no one, and I want it to please You. Lord, please
bless my plan." It is plan, then pray.
So many of our ideas are impetuous. They are not what the Lord
wants to do. They do not resemble in any way the things which concern
Him. We have good ideas, but they are not God ideas. His agenda and
our agenda conflict. We want to build Him a shelter but that is not
what He wants.... When Peter, James, and John heard the voice of the
Lord . . . they abandoned their inventive-but-self-made idea. The
presence of the Lord magnified, and His holiness brought them to their
senses. Jesus gained their attention, not by subduing them with a stern
scolding, but by magnifying His presence until all the genius of their
human ideas was bleached out by His refulgent face.
When they abandoned their good idea and fell facedown before the
Lord, He could work with them again....
When you and I abandon our good idea and fall to our face before
me Lord, then He will come and touch us, too. When we pursue our
own plan He cannot use us. We must abandon our good idea and fall
facedown before Him. Then He will be able to use us again. Then He will
reveal what He is doing - a God idea.... It is pray, then plan. Through
prayer, Jesus instructs of His plan, a God idea.
Prayer removes the impulse of the good idea, the good idea born
of human ingenuity but not of God. Pray, then plan. It is the habit
of the surrendered saint. (Walking with Christ in the Details of
Life by Patrick M. Morley) [Inspirational SB re Mat.13:12]
HOW TO COMMIT ALL TO THE LORD
How do we commit our works to the Lord? Not merely by asking Him
to bless what we've already done, but by committing ourselves and
our plans to Him before, during, and after we have done our work.
[Life Principles SB By Charles Stanley]
See that what thou doest is commanded; and then begin, continue,
and end all in his name. And thy thoughts shall be established--
these schemes or arrangements, though formed in the heart, are
agreeable to the divine will, and therefore shall be established. His
thoughts-- his meditations-- are right; and he begins and ends his work in
the Lord; and therefore all issues well. (Adam Clarke Commentary)
RELATED THOUGHTS
Doubts need to be confronted with words of faith and action.
Take God at His word. Do what the Bible says, and faith will come.
(Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29; 2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
Good works strengthens faith? Sinful works weaken faith!
(Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29; 2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
The Word becomes real to us when we act on it. Genuine belief
results in corresponding action. (Jam.2:22; Pro.16:3; Joh.20:29;
2Co.5:7) [SS Quarterly 1/27/04]
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Feelings should not be our guide. The plain declaration of the
Word is what is required. {3MR 89.1}
Only through union with Christ can we bear fruit (John 15:1-11).
[ESV SB]
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall
bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5 (KJV)
Do what it takes to be in position to receive His blessing. The
best position to be in is as close to God as you can get, right smack
dab in the center of his will... You take care of His business and
He will take care of yours. Michelle McKinney Hammond
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