Await and Arise: Why it's Important...

This season has been one of wading through deep waters in questions and understanding.  Working through frustration and paths that didn't go the way I maybe thought they might.  Leading to open doors I didn't recognize before.  Sometimes we come to crossroads of our faith and it causes us to step back, and to re-examine.  To dig deeper and to seek God for more understanding.  

I hope you know you have a God that can handle any question you may have, take them to Him and dig into the Word, seek Godly counsel and continue learning, trusting and resting in His good plan.

 Thanks for being here.  Please Like and Subscribe if this has blessed you!  

If you want to know more about Community Bible Study check out: https://www.communitybiblestudy.org/

To know more about Ang check out these sites:
https://angelaraber.com/
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Transcript

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Welcome to another episode of A Wait and a Rise. Join me as we dive into scripture and just pause in awe of our good God. And as we give our souls just a moment of rest and refresh. Today I wanted to come to you with something a little different. We are in the Psalms um 7, 17, 54, 120, and 123. I can't believe I remembered all of those. And even in order, that was pretty good. Um and in those, it talks about vindication. So David's kind of on the run, and not kind of, he's on the run, and um he's being pursued by people that he once trusted, and he is crying out to God for vindication, and it's it's vindication that he won't get from Saul. I mean, even in one of the sections, it's the one after his time um in the cave when Saul comes in the cave and he um thinks that he's safe in the cave, so much so that he uses the restroom in the cave. And David and his men are hiding in the back. And David comes up and cuts his cloak quietly and then comes out after Saul leaves and says, My lord, my lord, I had the opportunity to kill you and I didn't. Why do you seek after me? Why don't you believe me? I don't want to harm you. And uh he's he's seeking vindication, and Saul never gives it. Saul kind of, oh, I'm so sorry, but then let's kill him, you know. So it's this back and forth for David. And so that's what we're studying this week. And it looks at peace and it looks at being in times of pride and uh rightness and and not looking for God's righteousness, right? And so David is constantly seeking after God, saying, Look, here are my iniquities. I have put them at your feet. Please, Lord, vindicate me. And we know the story, we know that David ends up on the throne and that God does vindicate him, but he still walks through many hardships in his life. So I wanted to share with you, or not, I've been thrown into this space of spiritually where I am digging. I'm just digging. I want to dive deeper into what it is I believe. And I have a pretty firm foundation of what I believe. I was raised in the church, I've studied the word for a long time, I've taught the word for 10 years, I have a strong understanding of my belief. But sometimes I come up against others who believe differently. And in this time, there's been some things that I want to renavigate or re-establish. And so I am back in the word again with more specific questions, digging more for God's will, for God's understanding, to understand my faith and to seek after him. So, first off, I want to say it is so important that you do this. It is so important, not that you question faith or question God, but that you take it to the word and you make sure that what you believe is tested by scripture and true to scripture. So John 4.1 says, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. You know, it's easy for us to listen to things and to get persuaded into things and to start going, that sounds good, that sounds right, and not to take it back to the word. So what I'm telling you is please take it back to the word. It is so important that as we grow in our faith, we are constantly in the word, making sure it lines up with the word. And then seek out godly counsel and advice and discussion. And you might not always agree with those discussions. That's okay. Take it back to the word, take it back to the Lord. I have been so blessed to be in these conversations recently and to be reading some books that not only uh make me think more critically and to dig, but they also frustrate me because some of the things that they say, I don't think I agree with. And so I want to take it back to the word. I want to grow in my knowledge and my understanding so that I might look more like Christ and less like me. And so, in that, as I was studying this uh vindication scriptures in Psalms, it really hit me that um David is saying in Psalm 123, too long have I had my dwelling place among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. If we are seeking in conversations, in uh in our dialogue, in our understanding to be right and to make sure that everyone around us knows that we are right, we will not be doing any good for the glory of the kingdom. We will not be doing any good for God and his purpose. Instead, we should be seeking understanding. We should be seeking God and peace with our brothers and sisters and dialogue that cares for one another, dialogue that's done in love so that we might have understanding from both sides. It doesn't mean that we give up truth. It doesn't mean that we tolerate untruths. It means that we are steady in the truth of the Bible, but that we are loving in our actions and our way of dispersing it and understanding others through it. So the more that we gain understanding, the more we should be in the word and the more we should be seeking not to be right, but to be loving and understanding, and then to be truthful. So I hope that this week, instead of being vindicated in your rightness, that you will come back to the word, that you will study it, that you will ask questions, the hard questions of God, and that you will have discussions with others where you can, as we say in community Bible study, agree to disagree agreeably. It's so important that we do this, that we converse, that we study, that we edify one another and lift one another up. We're not going to agree on everything all of the time. My dad once said, if you're looking for the perfect church, you'll be looking forever. And that's so true because church is made up of imperfect people. And so we go not with the understanding that I am right and I'm going to make sure everybody knows it, but with the understanding that not everybody has the same understanding as me. And so I'm going to come from a place of the word. I'm going to found myself in the word and my understanding there. And I am going to seek Christ in how that comes out of me to others that they might see his love through me and not my rightness. So, anyways, that's where I'm at this week. How are you? I hope you're well. Thanks for being here. Let's soak in some scripture now. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirit to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is death is from God, this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 1 Thessalonians 5, 20 through 21. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything that keeps hold fast what is good. Deuteronomy 13, 1 through 4. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, Let us go after other gods that you have not known, and let us serve them, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you. Zechariah 14, one through three. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished, and half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city, and then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. Luke 18, 7 through 8. And shall God not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him? Though he bears long with them, I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Psalm 79, 10. Why should the nations say, Where is their God? If there be known among the nations in our sight, the avenging of the blood of your servants which has been shed. Isaiah 34 8. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. Jeremiah 46 10. For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, the day of vengeance, that he may avenge himself on his adversaries, that sword shall devour, it shall be saturated and made drunk with their blood, for the Lord God of hosts has a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Ezekiel 25, 14. Romans 12, 19 through 21 says, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. Therefore, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him drink, for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who believed, as our testimony among you was believed. Hebrews 10, 30, for we know him who said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord, and again the Lord will judge his people. Genesis 4, 15. And the Lord said to him, Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Deuteronomy 32, 43. Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his serpents and render vengeance to his adversaries. He will provide atonement for his land and his people. Isaiah 124. Thanks for joining me today. If your soul was refreshed by this pause in the word, then I hope that you'll continue to join me weekly for these await and arise meditations. My hope is that this podcast space will be a reprieve for you to just take a pause away from the world, to be refreshed in the word, and to await in the presence of a good God. Would you go to the comment section and leave a word or a scripture that's lifted you up this week? I really do love to see how God is working in all of our lives. And my desire is to see that this space just grows as a community of people who come together and encourage each other in the word. We want to see him working in all of us. It's just such a sweet reminder that we are all in this together. And God, he goes before us. So until next time, I'm praying your heart stays anchored in his truth. A Wait and Arise podcasts are available on all podcast players. If you would like to see Ang, me, as I teach weekly live, click on my YouTube channel or go to my webpage, AngelaRaber.com, and you can find those episodes there. Meditations come out each week on Thursday, and live teachings are weekly on Monday, and I post those on Tuesday. We hope that you'll subscribe and feel free to share this episode with family and friends and on social media. For more information for connecting with a community Bible study in your area, you can also click those links below. You can join a connect group online, or you can find a community Bible study in your town or in your area that you can join in person. It is so important to be in the word, meditating on it and studying it for yourself. So it is my encouragement to you to find a Bible teaching church and an in depth Bible study and dig in. Thanks for listening. Now, away in his presence and arise in his call.