The Word: Genesis 2: 5 – 6 (KJV)
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. 6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Dig Deeper:
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Think about it
BECOMING SYSTEMATIC
Vision series
We touched on management and order yesterday. We mentioned that God is strategic, structured, organised. We said the purpose of management is to bring order. Order brings peace and calmness.
These are all part of Vision and planning. When God gives the vision of the future, we must make effective plans so that the vision given can become a reality.
Let’s talk about being systematic today. To be systematic is to be methodical, to have a coherent, organised line of action. So God gives a vision of the future. That is called the: what of Vision. There is also the: how of vision: the how is the strategy or plan. It’s not enough to have strategy. That strategy needs to be systematic in its application in other to be sustainable. The plan needs to follow line after line. We can’t jump from A to Z. We need to patiently go through ABCD until we get to Z. That is how God works fundamentally and we need to follow that principle. Granted we sometimes experience the unusual miracle of speed where God bypasses laws and restrictions. However God is by default systematic.
Remember the 4 things in God’s mind this year:
– Newness (causing new things),
– Restructuring (a re-organisation in our lives),
– taking a step back in other to leap and
– God will be taking away all reproach
Part of restructuring is becoming systematic.
In our text yesterday and today, we read that God intentionally did not allow rain when there was no man to maintain the garden of Eden. Instead he only allowed a small mist from the ground to provide water for the plants so that the growth of the plants could be regulated. That is being strategic, systematic and exercising control. These are principles we need for the next level. In our 2nd text today, when the children of Israel entered the promise land, God did not drive the inhabitants out immediately. Instead God drove out the inhabitants systematically over time. God’s explanation for not driving out the inhabitant out immediately was that wild animals would have multiplied if there was no one living there hunting those animals. That would have created another set of problems. That is vintage God. The only wise God. So the next time you wonder why all the promises of God did not come to pass suddenly, please understand that God is systematic. The wisdom of God works by systematic progress. If God is systematic, I need to be systematic in all that I do.
Nuggets:
Being systematic allows you to achieve a goal over a period without being overwhelmed
Our memory verse for January 2018
Habakkuk 2: 2
2 And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Let’s take a few moment to learn our memory verse for this month by heart. It can be memorised in 2 lines:
Line 1: And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision,
Line 2: and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
Once you say it a few times it will stick.
Prayer focus: Our prayers for the next level project:
Lord thank you 2018. Help me to settle down to moving into my next level.
On Grace:
Masterlife Workbook: The Church is embarking on weeks of discipleship workbook study: Masterlife now on the 2nd workbook: The Disciple’s personality
