God is Faithful--Only Wait

"When I cannot understand my Father’s leading, And it seems to be but hard and cruel fate, Still I hear that gentle whisper ever pleading, God is working, God is faithful—Only wait." –A.B. Simpson

What an encouraging quote this is for me right now. When I first read this quote, I will admit that I did not fully grasp everything that the writer was saying. Now that I have read and re-read it and meditated on those words, it makes sense to me. I hope that it ministers to you if you are struggling right now in your walk with the Lord.

We aren't always going to know or understand what the Lord is doing or where He is leading us. God did not give Abraham specific instructions, He just told Abraham to go and leave his home land. That is how it is for us, God does not tell us everything right up front. This is how trust is worked in our lives and how it becomes a part of us and our every day life. Many times I have said, "If I just knew everything right now, then it would make things so much smoother and easier." The more I think about this the more I realize how wrong I am :) Yes, I admitted that I am wrong! If we knew everything in the beginning, then we would just be thinking of all the possibilities, analyze everything to try and find a "better way" to do God's will. His will is the absolute best will for us and we must stand on this truth and trust in God. In Proverbs 3:5, we are told to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Lean on Him and He will cause you to understand what you need to know. All of the knowledge and understanding that we have now is from Him and because He has allowed us to have it. God's ways are so high, so great, and so perfect and amazing that no man is able to attain a full comprehension of His purpose and will. 

I remember, as a little kid, how I would get so frustrated (sometimes to the point of crying) in school because I could not understand what I was being taught. It is hard when you are being taught and nothing is helping you to understand what the teacher is trying to impart into you. That is how many may feel when they are living each day when they don't understand what is going or where they are going. The wonderful thing is that God is not a selfish or deceiving God. He wants us to know and to understand. He doesn't want us running around in circles, crying tears of frustration, or being lost. God wants His people to trust in Him and to know what they need to know in His perfect time.

I am taking a class this week on "Prayer" and one important thing that my teacher has bee emphasising to us is that: we need to pray a prayer. Those who have a prayer life are those who have order. and they have a real relationship with God. Those don't just know God through what they read in the Bible or what they hear their Pastor preach in services. They have a communicating relationship with their Heavenly Father. They have disciplined themselves and practice praying every day. That is how we learn to do something and perfect it in our lives: practice it. I want to be able to confess to God and man that I know that it is okay even though I don't exactly know what is going on. When we pray, there is an impartation of peace, from God, that passes all human understanding. It's like we are in the middle of a maze and we have no clues and no signs to direct us to the exit. However, we have peace and we don't get frustrated. We walk through the paths until we finally find the exit. Praying is a key tool that helps us to get through life, which seems to be like a maze at certain points in our life, and make to the end. Hitting the mark is only accomplished as we choose to never give up and continually choose to trust in the Lord. We really can only trust in the Lord as we choose to surrender our human intellect and learn His nothing is impossible for God to do. 

Practice and discipline yourself to pray each day; so that way you can hear "that gentle whisper ever pleading, God is working, God is faithful—Only wait".

Amen!?!

Our Desires Becoming Aligned with His!

Just something brief to share and a prayer that the Lord placed on my heart today while I was walking. It is, "Lord, help me to live what I confess and confess what You want me to be."

I don't want to be someone who talks the whole day and at the end of the day accomplished did nothing. We all have desires within ourselves; some pop up out of the blue and others have been desires within us for years. What are we doing? If those desires are of God then are we confessing them and living them out? or are we just saying, "Man I really want..." or "I wish I could..." If they are of God, then don't be afraid or hide them, but confess, "Yes, Lord, I desire that too. Help it to come to pass in my life". If those desires are not of God, then we must be willing to open our hands and let those desires go. For the ladies, you go shopping and you see all of those clothes that are on sale and you WANT them but you don't NEED them. You only have so much money that you can spend and so you must let some things go in order to stay within budget. Men, you can relate this too tools, gadgets, or some men can relate to clothes and shoes. Our will is the one thing that is our own. Our will becomes aligned with Christ will as we choose to desire our own wants and desires when it is necessary to do so. We cannot try, in our own might and strength, to make those desires fit into God's plans. We have to open our hands and let them blow away with the wind. There is only strength to do what God has purposed us to do. Let us not struggle to do what we are not suppose to do, but let us desire to do what our Creator has created us to do.

It's something to think about for sure. I want my confession to be those things that God desires and has planned for me to live out and be.

God bless!

A Broken and Contrite Heart

We find broken and contrite heart is mentioned two times in the book of Psalms. First, in Psalms 34:18, "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." and second time it's mentioned in Psalm 51:17, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

What do these two words mean?

Broken: having been fractured or damaged and no longer in one piece or in working order
Contrite: feeling or expressing remorse (deep regret or guilt for a wrong committed); affected by guilt.

While I was meditating on this I had a picture of a heart and in this heart there are many channels. Lets bring out hearts into this picture now. We have a heart that has channels that are closed and we consider this to be our old nature. Our old nature is what we did before we came to Christ. Now, we come to Christ, but we still have closed channels in our heart. This is where brokenness comes in to play. We want to submit to the work of God's hands upon our lives so that He can break those channels and make the way for more of His Spirit to flow through us. I don't see brokenness so much to be a rip or tear in our heart, but an opening up. Brokenness also refers to humbleness and we must have a humble heart when we come to the Lord. When we come with a heart that is humble it will hurt less when God opens this channel. If we are stubborn and resistant, then it will be more hurt to us than what God had planned for us. 

Now to the contrite heart, the definition above is very interesting to me because this is what links our minds to our hearts. When we have guilt in our heart it generally is because we have been thinking and re-thinking about those things that we regret doing. It is necessary to feel guilt; that is the alarm that goes off in our minds that tells our heart that something is not right. However, the speak after feeling guilt is confessing what you have done before the Lord. This is what the enemy does not want to happen and so he tries to stop us and keep us in the mode of guilt. The enemy plants just one thought and the human mind just goes off on it's own. Learn and practice girding up the loins of your mind so that you do not allow that seed thought to come in and grow and choke out the truth. 

Brokenness and contrition work together. We do not know when something is wrong until we have guilt in our hearts. Once we have that guilt we must come to the Father with a humble spirit and allow Him to break open that channel. Once that channel is broken we no longer have that blockage and the Holy Spirit is now free to expand more in our lives. 

By God's grace we are able to do this. May we be placed on the right path and remain on this path so that we continue to be made more beautiful in the sight of our Lord.

God bless!

The Power of the Blood of the Lamb

In class this week, we are studying Minor prophets. Today is the first day of class on this course and one thing the teacher spoke that I want to share is concerning the struggle of our sins. 

God is a loving God and often we think of Him as a condemning, criticizing, and slow to forgive God. This is one of the mindsets that we need to get rid of. We are afraid of the after results, but if we continue in that sin, then the after results will only increase for the worse. Our mind sets are often the main hindrance for many people. We don't ask because our mind does not think that way at first. Repentance is the changing of our minds and this is a gift that God desires to give to those who are willing to change. God only wants to make us hate that sin that we struggle to not love. That is the reason many people fall back; it's because they still have a love for that sin. There is no power in our own strength. We often want to try and fix it ourselves, but we only end up failing every time. Sin is something that we need the blood of the Lamb for to get rid of it.

A wonderful and famous hymn: There is Power in the Blood

Would you be free from the burden of sin?

There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood; 

Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;

There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?

There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;

Sin-stains are lost in its life-giving flow;

There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

Would you do service for Jesus your King?

There’s pow’r in the blood, pow’r in the blood;

Would you live daily His praises to sing?

There’s wonderful pow’r in the blood.

The first step to repentance and restoration is admitting your sin. This will take the grace of God and courage, but we must take that step. May your heart cry out, "Lord, would you pour your blood over me. I need you because I cannot do this on my own. Would you kill this love for this sin in my life."

God sent His Son on a mission to come and conquer sin. Jesus did and by His blood we are now able to have power. I believe that the time of victory is near for many of God's people. Don't give up but cry out to God with a broken and contrite heart, asking Him for that power and victory. God wants His people to be free and so if we ask, He will give you the power. Lastly, if you find that your heart still loves that sin, then cry out to God and be willing to be made willing!

Amen!

Keep the Light Shining on the Right Path!

I have been meditating and re-meditating upon Psalms 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path." I want to briefly example this verse to you, the way I see it.

First thing this verse addresses is our feet. We must not forget to study God's Word daily because it is through reading His word daily that we can begin to see the condition of our feet. It is important that our feet are in good condition so that we can walk the Christian walk properly and at the correct pace. No one will survive if they have sore, scabby, and blistering feet. Our feet must be properly cleaned and covered by the right shoes.

Second thing this verse talks about is the path. The word is a light unto our path and each day we are to be taking one step in the right direction. How can we make sure that we are going in the right direction? By reading the word daily! If you don't, then you are as a person who is wandering aimlessly. Having no vision (which we attain by reading scripture) and press toward no mark.

We want to find out where we are to go (have a vision) and to keep the light on that path (by reading God's word daily) so that we don't lose the path and wander in another direction. Don't allow yourself to stop reading God's word every day. If you miss a day, don't be discourage, but read even just one verse. If you do not have a time where you meditate and read God's word, then I recommend that you start. Cry out to God that He would give you a love for His Word and an unquenchable hunger for His Word.

God bless!