We were having some work done on our home and had a guy come out to seal our air ducts. He finished and I paid him. As he got out the door, I realized that I hadn't talked to him about The Lord, it was an opportunity lost. Then I hear a knock at my door. He had forgotten to seal the main unit! Wow! As he went back to his truck to get his supplies, I prayed for God to tell me something about him. I heard Him say "he has a sister in poor health". I tread carefully here because I never know if my imagination is just running wild. He came back in and we talked about church for a moment, then I asked him if he had a sister. He said that he does. Then I asked him if she was in poor health. He said "yes she is, and I worry about that all the time. How did you know that"? Then I told him "I asked God to tell me something about you". I was then able to minister to him, pray for his sister, and encourage him to get back in church and turn his life over to Jesus. It was the Holy Spirit planting seeds. Not only did I get to minister to this man, but God encouraged me and strengthened my faith. When you get confirmation that God is that close, all you want to do is get on your face! I couldn't help but cry tears of pure joy!
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. James 1:5-6
God stands alone. He is a supreme being uncontrolled by any other being, including you. We are at the mercy of His will. We may allow things to get in our way of giving Him the power that He deserves and make other objects or beings our gods, but they are not God! Any power that you allow to rule over your life is a false power unless it is God Almighty. Humans have the tendency to try and assert their own will upon you and push you to do their bidding, but as a follower of Christ, your only ruler is God and your King is Jesus. All efforts by humans to control you will fail if you only give power to our Sovereign God. There is no other true god. He takes counsel from no one. He's the creator not the created. Stand strong against your adversaries, because you stand in the counsel of the Almighty, the ruler of the universe. Discomfort and pain are only momentary, change your focus to eternity.
"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' Isaiah 46:8-10
Who is God? He is too incredible to describe. Our comprehension is limited to our experiences, what we see of His creation and what He tells us through His Word. He lowered Himself to a description, which is completely inadequate, so we as humans might have a limited understanding of Him. In our current existence, we will not fully understand who He really is, it's impossible because of the restrictions of this fallen and evil world. Oh, that we might have had the opportunity to walk with Him in the garden before our fall, then we could have a little more knowledge of His holiness. We have to be the ones to make the effort to get to know Him. Remember, He is holy, completely pure and we are tarnished by sin and must look for Him with a pure heart, void of all filth, purified by our Savior. Seek forgiveness, then seek Him. May you feel blessed as He reveals Himself to you.
Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3
We've all had disagreements with others. This makes for a rocky relationship. Sometimes these differing opinions will cause irreparable damage and leads us to sever ties with that person. When it comes to our relationship with God, because we know He is forgiving, we tend to take advantage of His good nature and push our relationship with Him to the edge, not considering that He is the one who brings us peace. God teaches us how He feels through the Bible, it's His Words! If you are at odds with what He has written in the scriptures, you are in disagreement with Him; that's not a good place to be if you want peace. The problem is that most people never even crack open their Bible to find out how God feels. You do not know God if you haven't sought to find out. The best way to really know Him is to hear what He says about Himself through His Word. He wants you to know about Him, so open up your Bible.
"Agree with God, and be at peace; thereby good will come to you. Receive instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart. Job 22:21-22
God will often stretch us beyond where our minds intend for us to go. He allows us to feel discomfort and uneasiness to help train us for His service. We open the door to that by letting Him use us as a tool to increase His kingdom. I've heard His voice telling me to try something new, a different way of communicating the message of His love. Almost as soon as I heard it, the enemy jumped in to try and overtake me. I almost fell for it because for just a moment, I thought to myself, I won't have to do battle if I just ignore this voice and turn my back on my promotion in His service. Then I remembered, this is not my battle! This is God's battle, I just have to stand strong by removing my own will, and let Him fill me with His strength and power to help sustain me during this process of growth. If you are not in a battle at this time, rest up! You will face challenges during a period of growth, but keep in mind that the battle belongs to God.
For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. Psalms 18:39-40
Make your plans with a willingness to yield to change. So often we set our minds on a specific outcome and find ourselves heartbroken when things don't turn out as we had planned. This happens a lot with couples and families, especially when you're not working in sync. Then, on top of that, God has His own will for our lives and if you don't tune into His voice you may miss His cues and end up disappointed. As an example, I had plans for an adventure on the river looking for artifacts, and to my disappointment the rain came in and dashed those plans. I looked at it as if God had something better in mind and raised my expectation for an amazing outcome because of His involvement. His plan is always better than ours anyway! We must always be flexible so we don't break. Besides, there may have been a big old alligator waiting on the bank ready to take off my leg; God just helped me avoid that tragedy
yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." James 4:14-15
Water, what a powerful gift from God. Vast oceans are teaming with amazing life, rivers flow creating powerful energy, and a cup of water quenches our thirst. As powerful and essential as that water is, it cannot sustain your life forever. The women who collected the water from the well for her family and their livestock understood how hard it was to gather the water daily. When Jesus told her that the water He gives is so powerful that she would never thirst again, she wanted to hear more about this living water. He was, of course, referring to Himself as that essential water that brings eternal life. He also said the river of living water will flow out of our hearts, which means that we also have the power to share the living water of eternal life with others. Don't keep the river that flows through you a secret, share the life it brings with others so they may also have a spring welling up from within them.
Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:38
