Pam Padgett - teacher
Deuteronomy 6:18 And thou shalt do that which is
right and good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be
well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good
land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, 19 To cast out all
thine enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.
What is right and good in the sight of God may be seen as wrong, and
perhaps even evil, by those around us. Regardless of what others
may think, all that is important is to do what is good and right in
the sight of God.
Last summer my niece called to tell me that my mom was seriously ill and
in the hospital about 12 hours drive from where I live. It
seemed to me that I should go there to be with her and possibly help my
dad in some way.
But when I prayed, I heard (in a thought) that everything needed was
already provided for my parents, and that for me to go there would be
like stepping into an ant hill of fire ants. I tried the spirit
bringing this thought and believed it was the Holy Spirit. I felt sure
that my niece and other members of my family thought I should go be with
my parents. In my own wisdom it also seemed I should go.
But the Holy Spirit had shown me what was good and right in the sight of God. Because of this, I stayed home.
(My mom recovered and left the hospital. A few days after she returned home I spoke with her. She told
me of the very good care she had received in the hospital, how friends
and family members had helped my dad when he needed something, and that
so many people had come to the hospital to visit her that the nurses had
commented about this. Just as the Holy Spirit spoke to me, everything
they needed was provided for my parents. And in hearing of people who
had been there, I knew how difficult it would have been for me to have
been there. I would have been continually "stung" by their words and
actions.)
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Another example ... When working as a computer programmer I was assigned to lead a project
which was of interest to upper management. A few other people were also
assigned to work on the project. But we were also given other
assignments that required all of our time, and we were told these other
assignments were higher priority than the project.
When presentations about the project's status were being prepared for upper
management, as project lead I was
asked to give input. Although I reported the truth that very little was being
done on the project, the presentations did not reflect this at all.
Instead the presentations made it seem that real progress was being made
on the project. I spoke with my manager, his boss, and the people
putting the presentations together to try to get the truth presented to
upper management, but was ignored. Obviously, they didn't want to hear
the truth and I was expected to go along with what they presented. At
times it seemed futile to speak up and as though it would be
easier to just quietly go along with them.
But when I prayed, I was reminded of what we're told in the following:
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him,
and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at
all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have
fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from all sin.
We can't walk in light (truth) while at the same time walking in
darkness of deception and lies. This strengthened me to continue presenting the truth about
the status of the project and not go along with deception about it.
One day a vice president asked to meet with everyone assigned to work on
the project. I prayed before going to this meeting, asking God to help me speak all that HE wanted me to speak and nothing more. Although a presentation had been prepared, the
vice president pushed that aside and said he wanted to hear directly
from those on the project team. Without thinking, I began to speak and was surprised how
clearly and strongly the truth about the project came forth out of my
mouth. My manager and the woman who had prepared the deceptive
presentations could not refute anything said and simply looked down, while others on the project team nodded in agreement as I spoke.
The vice president took immediate action to free us from other assignments so we could work on the
project.
I was so grateful to God for providing the opportunity and helping me tell this vice president the truth about the project, truth which my manager and his boss tried to hide. I believe the Holy Spirit led me in speaking, and that this was good and right in the sight of God.
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Sometimes even those who call themselves Christians think we are wrong for doing what is good and right in the sight of God.
Many years ago while finishing college I rented a room in a house owned
by a woman I met in the singles group at the church I attended at the
time. This women had been married and divorced twice and had a young
daughter. When it became obvious that she was looking for another man
to marry, I spoke with her, sharing scripture which tell us
that a divorced woman will commit adultery if she remarries and a man
who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Sadly, she did not want
to hear this, saying that she didn't care what the Bible said, she knew
what she believed.
Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his
wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit
adultery:
and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Not long after this I graduated and moved to another town about 30 miles
away. Although I continued to attend the church, I no longer went to
the singles meetings. Some months later, however, I heard that this
woman was engaged to marry a man I also knew from the singles group. I
shared with him that he would commit adultery if he married this woman
and gave him scriptures on this subject. He said he would consider
these things, but I learned that the wedding plans continued.
Then I heard that another woman I had met in the singles group was going
to be the maid of honor. I went to her and told her of the adultery
that would be committed if these people married. She said she knew this
marriage was wrong, but that they would get married even if she wasn't
the maid of honor, so she was going to do this.
About this time, those in the singles group that I once sat with during
the church service would no longer sit near me. One day some even got
up and moved away from me when I sat near them. I didn't know why this
was happening and called out to God asking if I had done something
wrong?
A couple weeks later after a church service, a woman I didn't know very
well stopped me saying she had a message from God for me. The message
was that God knew how I was being treated by those in the singles
group and that I needed to know it was because I had done what HE (God)
had wanted me to do in speaking against the marriage of this divorced
woman.
Sharing scriptures showing the adultery that would result by this woman remarrying was hated and despised by those in the singles group, but was good and right in the sight of God.
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The only thing important in each thing we deal with is to seek to do what is right and good in the sight of God.
Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to
please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ.
And as we turn to God and do what is right
and good in the sight of God, we find the following in our lives ...
-- it is well with us
-- we possess the "good land" ... God's will, provision, protection for us in the matter
-- our enemies are cast out before us . As we turn to God with each problem, concern, troubling thought and go
in the way we are shown by the Holy Spirit, those things which would lead
us in another way in the matter (thoughts from the devil, ungodly words and
actions of people, etc.) are "cast out". We are led by God, not by them.
Deuteronomy 6:18 And thou shalt do that which is right and
good in the sight of the Lord: that it may be well with
thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which
the Lord sware unto thy fathers, 19 To cast out all thine
enemies from before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.