Have you ever been in the place of being forced to
acknowledge that what you had in your mind would never be? How did you
respond
to that situation upon that realization? Were you made better or
bitter? Did
you learn anything from it for future experiences in life? Did you ever
come to
the understanding and acceptance that only
what God wants and has in mind really counts? Psalm 115:3
says; “But our
God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” That settles
any controversy
regarding who controls everything and everybody!
In the prophet Ezekiel’s time, God’s people were
practicing idolatry in a most rampant manner. As a result, God told
Ezekiel to
tell them: “What you have in your mind shall never be, when
you say, ‘We will
be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving
wood and
stone.’ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God,
‘surely with a mighty hand, with an
outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over
you’” (Ezekiel
20:32-33). God continues in verse 38 by saying, “I will purge
the rebels from
among you, and those who transgress against Me;
I will bring them out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall
not
enter the land
of Israel.
Then you will
know that I am the LORD.” Apparently, the people did not
realize how displeased
God had become with their behavior. He plainly told them that their
idolatry
was not going to be tolerated. This flagrant disobedience they had in
their
minds was never to be!
The
apostle Peter had a thought in his mind that would
never be when Christ was transfigured before him. James and John were
also with
him on this occasion. During that most magnanimous event and scene,
Peter said
to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us
make three
tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for
Elijah—not knowing what he
said” (Luke 9:33b). Luke
9:34-35
says, “While he was saying this, a cloud came and
overshadowed them; and they
were fearful as they entered the cloud. Then a voice came out of the
cloud, saying,
‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’” Note
verse 33 says Peter did not know
what he was saying. As good as it
sounded to him, God let
Peter know most emphatically that what he had in his mind would never
be!
Because God is God, He lets us all know just what ultimately
will be, that His will is at the center of everything. Speaking of God Isaiah 45:12, 18 says;
“I have made the earth, and
created man on it. It was I, My hands that stretched out the heavens,
and all
their host I have commanded.” “For thus says the
Lord, who created the heavens,
who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who established it, who
did not
create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and
there is
no other.”
There
are numerous thoughts, ideas, plans and actions
that we as human beings have. However, whatever those may be, we must
keep them
in perspective, always realizing how frail, fragile and uncertain our
lives and
plans can be. Psalm 146:3-4 tells us, “Do not put your trust
in princes, nor in
a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns
to his
earth; in that very day his plans perish.”
There are three areas in the countless things that
could be named that God is telling us, as it were, just as He told the
elders
and the children of Israel,
“What you have in your mind shall never be.” (1)
God will never save anyone
separate and apart from obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (2)
God will
never forgive us if we refuse to forgive others. (3) God will never
answer any
of our questions regarding His authenticity, integrity, motives or
authority.
First, God will never save anyone separate and apart
from obedience to the Gospel because that was the reason Jesus was sent
into
this world. We live in a fallen world, and we are all flawed by the
three
letter word s-i-n. Any person God would allow into heaven not covered
by the
blood of Jesus Christ would make His death on the cross a lie, and that
is
never going to happen! Revelation
21:27
says; “But there shall by no means enter
it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only
those who
are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
John 1:29b
declares, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world!” Paul
said in Romans 1:16,
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the
power of God to
salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek.”
John states forth rightly in Revelation
1:5b,
“To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own
blood.” We contact
the saving blood of Jesus Christ through our obedience to the Gospel
message of
salvation, which culminates in our baptism. There are multiplied
millions who
have in their minds all they need to do to be saved from their sins is
faith
only.
Second, God will never forgive us if we refuse to
forgive, because while we were still in the ungodly and condemned state
of sin,
Christ died for us. Jesus said, “But love your enemies, do
good, and lend,
hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you
will be
sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
Therefore be
merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you
shall not be
judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you
will be
forgiven” (Luke 6:35-37). When Jesus gives us the account of
forgiveness and
God’s expectations, He ends by saying, “So My
heavenly Father also will do to
you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his
trespasses” (Matthew 18:35). God’s condition for
our forgiveness is based on
our forgiving others from our hearts! There are multiplied millions who
have in
their minds some who they say they will never
forgive and will state emphatically their unforgiving spirit.
Third,
God will never answer any of our questions
regarding His authenticity, integrity, motives or authority. We as mere
humans,
subjected to various limits and conditions, have no right! God told
Ezekiel to
tell the elders, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel,
and say to them, ‘Thus says
the Lord God: ‘Have you come to inquire of Me?
As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I will not be
inquired of by you’” (Ezekiel
20:2-3). He repeats this to the children of Israel
in the latter part of verse 31; “So shall I be inquired of by
you, O house of Israel?
‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I will
not be inquired of by you.’” There are
multiplied millions who have in their minds they are justified in
trying to
call God into question!
Job had already
tried questioning the Almighty in the long ago, and God had simply
reminded him
of which one of them was God! God asked him in Job 38:2, “Who
is this who darkens counsel by words without
knowledge?” Is this without a doubt the smoothest way to tell
a person that due
to their profound ignorance, they do not know what they are talking
about? Then
God says in Job 38:3,
“Now
prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” For the
remainder of Job chapter 38 through
chapter 41, God hammers Job with questions that he cannot answer!
In the end, Job admits to God in Job
42:2-6, “I know that You can do
everything. And
that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked,
‘Who is this who
hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered
what I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen,
please,
and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you
shall answer Me.’
I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You.
Therefore
I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
May we live long
enough to come to this kind of
understanding about who God is and how He deals with us! We must strive
to make
God’s mind our mind and to serve and work in harmony with His
revealed Word to
us. We must accept what God wants, thinks and knows. We must be
committed to
God’s right to rule, and convicted that God’s rule
is right, because it is
impossible for Him to ever be wrong! One thing we do not want is for
God to
tell us as it were, “What you have in your mind shall never
be.” May we pray to
develop the attitude and mindset of David when he said in Psalm 25:4-5,
“Show
me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and
teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the
day.”
