MANNA FOR THOUGHT

How do you prepare yourself for God doing something in your lifetime that neither you nor your fathers have known?

How do you remain open?
"It's never been done before."
"Well, I've never seen or heard of anything like that happening!"

How do you have faith?

In the past God has done things that were not understood, so the people of the day did not receive or accept it....rather, they rejected it...even rejecting the Messiah—the very one they earnestly sought! (see Rom 10-11)

In Habakkuk 1:5 is says:
Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Throughout history, God has interacted with his people in these ways:

In 1 Corinthians 2:8-10 is says:
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him: — BUT GOD HAS REVEALED IT TO US BY HIS SPIRIT. (How can I not encourage you to read the whole first 2 chapters of
1 Corinthians and look at it in light of this topic)

He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known.
Deut 8:3

He lead you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble you and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
Deut 8:16

How do we keep an open spirit for God to do something new—like manna?
or water from a hard rock?
or parting the Red Sea?
or healing the sick?
or raising the dead? EZEKIEL 37
or supplying us with the $13,000 we need in just a few days or weeks?

How do we have faith, keep our mind open and still be wise and not just open to the tricks and deception of the devil on the prowl for someone to devour?

I've been seeing the need lately to pray for God to give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that understands and turns to him...then he'll heal...Matt. 13:15b

I am so blessed for how much I've seen and heard and have understood.
Luke 10:23-24

Let him who boasts, boast in this, that he knows and understands God. (Jer 9:24, 1 Cor 1:31)

How many times during times of intense trials do we NOT understand God—this is why in James 1 after speaking of the work of trials in our life—it says to ask for wisdom.


EYES TO NOT SEE, EARS TO NOT HEAR

There are those who have been blinded by Satan, "with veils covering their hearts," (2 Cor 3:15)

or those with darkened understanding (Eph. 4:17-19)

Why?
There was ignorance in them because their hearts were hard. They had lost sensitivity to God's Spirit and "hardly have ears to hear."

Also, of the spiritual leaders of the day....
God allowed them to continue to have eyes that could not see

Romans chapters 10-11
"God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day."
(O GOD, DON'T LET THIS BE TRUE OF ME!) Rom 11:8

And David says:
"May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever."

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own... Rom 10:2
(This speaks of religious pride — having pride in what you think you know and the knowledge of God you have attained.)

What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain....Rom 11:7


Read Matthew 11:14-19
Jesus said to the religious leaders, "And if you are willing to accept it, he [John] is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears, let him hear. — look at a few verses later—> For John came neither eating nor drinking and they say, 'He has a demon.'
I never used to understand these verses 16-19, now, I think I'm understanding them a little more.

Read Proverbs 2
(I think this shows us the way to have a right heart in earnestly seeking God and preparing ourselves for God to show us something that neither we nor our fathers have seen):

My son if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and IF YOU LOOK FOR IT AS FOR SILVER AND SEARCH FOR IT AS FOR HIDDEN TREASURE, THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.