God’s Control | His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

God Has A Bell; He Wants To Hear You Ring It

April 14, 2015 1 comment

Last week, when my grandson was too sick to go to school, he spent the day at our house. Right after I’d tucked him in bed, he asked, “Do I get to have the bell?”

The “bell” is a hand-sized figurine of an angel gazing at a bird in her hands–not exactly the sort of thing an eleven-year old boy usually wants. However, there’s a small clapper in the hollow of the figurine, and when he grasps the head of the angel and shakes it, the high-pitched sound is loud enough to be heard throughout the house.

I’ve had the bell for a number of years—it was given to me by a Bible study group—and a few years ago, I decided to put it to good use. Now, whenever anyone in my household gets sick, I put the bell within easy reach of their bedside. That way, if they need something, I can be summoned to their side.

My mother, who was in a wheelchair during the last years of her life, had to use the bell a lot more than most family members. Whenever she did, she would apologize for having to ring the bell. “It’s nice to have an angel when I need help,” she’d say, “but I hate to be a bother.”

My grandson, though, voiced no such sentiment when he rang the bell.

He rang it just to see if I could hear him ringing it. He rang it to ask for a drink, a cracker, a bowl of ice cream. He rang it to call attention to something on the television screen. He rang it to ask for a bowl of ice cream. He rang it because he said he was bored. He rang it to tell me he was happy to be at my house and not in school.

God also has a bell. He calls it prayer. Whenever I ring His angel bell, He’s at my side immediately. Sometimes, I think I’m using it too often, and I need to apologize. “I’m so sorry I have to ask for this again. I’m so sorry I can’t remember what you told me. I’m so sorry I have to ask forgiveness for this sin.”

However, at other times, I act just like my grandson. I ring it often and long, and I’m continually asking for something that I don’t even need. But, like a grandma who’s just happy her grandson wants to have her at his side, God doesn’t mind when He hears the angel bell ringing. He’s delighted His children want to spend time with Him, even if it’s just to ask Him for something. He’s happy His children believe He’s the answer to everything that matters.

He’s always overjoyed to hear that bell ringing! Ring away!

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

Categories: Christian Living, God's Control, God's Love, Personal, Prayer, Uncategorized Tags: Angel bell, Bell Ringing Prayer, God Loves Prayer, Persistent Prayer God, Philippians 4:6 Prayer, Pray With Purpose, Prayer Grandson Grandparents, Prayer Results, Prayer Rings Bell, Prayer Sick Grandson, Requests Persistent Prayer, Supplication thanksgiving prayer

Six Things I Discovered This Week

March 7, 2015 1 comment

I made six important discoveries this week. These weren’t earthshaking discoveries or anything like that. They were just personal observations I made as I came to the end of a strange week. It was strange for several reasons, but mainly because my husband and I were snowed in for two days, and it just so happened it was the week we were supposed to keep our grandsons–plus the granddog–while my daughter was out of town.

I discovered:

1. There are just sometimes in life when you have to stuff your obsessive compulsive disorder and let your house resemble a guy’s messy dorm room.

2. A bowl of vanilla ice cream, with sprinkles on top, is a good cure for boredom.

3. My oldest grandson now knows more about the computer than I do, even though I bought him his first computer game when he was nine months old.

4. Although a dog may refuse to go outside to do his business before going to bed, he will always do so at 3:00 a.m. when it’s snowing outside.

5. A hand-drawn game made out of a piece of discarded cardboard is a whole lot more fun than playing the deluxe version of Monopoly.

6. There’s nothing quite like having one of your grandsons ask you, “Is it time for our Bible study yet?”

While certainly not a discovery, I also had a reminder this week. It was from Psalm 139:15: “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Categories: Bits and Pieces, God's Control, Personal Tags: Deluxe Monopoly, Granddogs, Grandson BIble Study, Grandsons Snowed In, Guy's Messy Dorm Room, OCD disorder mild, Psalm 139 truth, Six Discoveries, Snowed In, Truth Psalm, Vanilla Ice Cream Sprinkles

What’s Going On With God?

January 29, 2015 3 comments

Often, God’s work in our lives seems hidden, a barely discernible matter. That’s true in the life of an individual, the life of a church, and especially in the world itself. Yet, the Bible assures believers this is simply not the case. God is doing something in all areas of our life, our church, and the world. He’s doing it all the time.

So, what is God doing when we can’t see what He’s doing?

When God made His presence known to Moses through the flame shooting up from the non-burning bush, He told Moses what had been going on with Him while the children of Israel were suffering under the oppression of the Egyptian pharaoh. God said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings” (Exodus 3:7).

That’s what God was doing then. That’s what God is doing now. He’s doing it in your life and He’s doing it in my life. He’s doing it throughout the world today.

God told Moses He “had surely seen.” Nothing escapes His attention. He sees it all. From the beheadings in the Middle East to the hairs on my head, not one thing gets past God. He’s observing every minutiae and every big thing.

God said He “had heard.” Not one word coming from my mouth escapes God’s ears. He hears my sweet words as well as my harsh words. He hears what your boss utters as well as what you utter about your boss. He hears words of profanity and words of praise. His ears are never closed; He hears it all.

“I know,” God said. God is aware, thoroughly knowledgeable, about me. That means He is completely cognizant of my every thought, my every motive, my every desire, my every sin, my every . . . my everything. This is true of a church body. This is true of a family, This is true of a nation. This is true of our universe.

When God told Moses what was going on with Him, He did so, not to instill fear, but to give Moses comfort. Moses was afraid of God, so God wanted to reassure Moses that the manifestation of His presence wasn’t to be feared. God described what He was up when He spoke from the midst of a flame in a non-burning bush. God did it again when He spoke in the form of His Son Jesus. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

We can be comforted by what’s going on with God both now and in the future. God not only told Moses what He was doing in the present, He also told Moses what He was about to do for His children. “I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:8).

God will do the same for His children today. “Yes, I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:20).

Categories: Christian Living, God's Control, Prophecy Tags: Beheadiings God, Exodus 3:6, God is in midst, God knows what's going on, God Moses Fear, God sees what's going on, God spoke to Moses, God working control, Moses bush words, Non-burning bush, Not fear faith, What is God doing? God is in control, What's going on?

Should I Fear God?

November 21, 2014 2 comments

The notion of being afraid of God seems foreign to those of us who view God as the Lover of our Soul, who sing of His blessings, and who trust Him with our eternal soul.

Yet, one can’t read the Bible without encountering the oft-repeated admonition to “fear the Lord.” Throughout the Old Testament, there are numerous examples of God’s children receiving a blessing because they fear God. Also, because of fearing God, they do what He commands them to do. (Genesis 42:18; Exodus 1:17; Exodus 18:21)

Fear of God is not just an Old Testament concept, though. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, “Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Nevertheless, there are times in my life when I’ve struggled with the concept of what it means to fear God. That’s why, when I recently came across a definition of fearing God in Drew Dyck’s book, Yawning At Tigers: You Can’t Tame God, So Stop Trying, I spent time meditating on it.

Dyck says, “To fear the Lord is to be grounded in reality, to have an accurate view of God’s holy nature and his awesome power.”

Fearing God doesn’t mean we cower in His presence—like a dog who knows he’s displeased his master—nor does it mean we run and hide instead of joyfully approaching Him. Instead, we embrace the fear of God because we recognize His to-be-feared characteristics, such as His all-powerful wrath toward sin, His unending sovereignty, and His unapproachable holiness, are an accurate understanding of who God really is.

The fearfulness of God is a reality, even if we don’t like it very much.

Having a true picture of God is the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

I live in Norman, Oklahoma. That means I know what’s it’s like to watch a mile-wide tornado approaching my city. It’s a fearful thing. However, if I’m hunkered down inside an indestructible storm shelter, I’m able to be in awe of the storm’s fierceness without fearing for my life.

We should fear God. We should be in awe of His wrath and His judgment. Yet, at the same time, we should have peace, knowing He is shielding us from wrath, sheltering us in His arms forever.

Categories: Christian Living, Devotionals, God's Control, God's Love, Worry Tags: Embrace Fear, Fear Lord Wisdom, Fearing God, Wrath God Fear, Wrath Judgment Fear God

Who’s In Charge, Anyway?

November 1, 2014 4 comments

As I was viewing posts on a writer’s site describing the results of methods used to advertise a new book’s release, I ran into a common theme–frustration and discouragement.

Some authors lamented their publishers weren’t being aggressive enough in advertising their latest release. Others felt their own methods had failed to generate sufficient sales. Yet, both were engaged in time-tested efforts book publishers usually employed to market books, getting them in the hands–and, thus, the hearts–of readers.

Since my new release falls into the Christian fiction category, what interested me most about these posts were comments by Christian authors. Several of them posted they had felt led of the Lord to write their book, yet many posted they weren’t happy about they way the book was selling. Did that mean they felt, even though God had been in charge of their writing the book, that now He wasn’t in command of how their book was selling?

Sometimes, when it appears God is leading us in one direction and we commit to that course of action, the results are not what we anticipated. We expected success, and we experienced failure–or, at least, less than successful results.

I believe this is a common misconception when it comes to feeling led of the Lord to do something.

Just because I felt led of the Lord to initiate a project, support a cause, or engage in some personal pursuit, and His hand was on me in the doing of it, that doesn’t mean, when it comes to the results, I’m suddenly in charge.

God is still in charge when it comes to all outcomes–not me and not you. Proverbs 16:9, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

This is a common theme throughout the Scriptures, but as self-sufficient, self-determining human beings, we failed to remember or perhaps just refuse to heed, what the Lord is saying to us on the subject of who’s in charge.

Isaiah 55:8-11, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways . . . it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

What are your plans today? Will God be responsible for the results or will you decide to assign the blame–or maybe even the credit–to yourself?