SEEKING THE FACE OF GOD

Psalm 119:36-37 New Living Translation

“Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money!  Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word.”

       It is so easy to get caught up in the things of this world.  Life’s demands pull at us constantly. It is the challenge of the Christian to seek the face of God regularly and learn of His ways continuously so that they do not get so easily entangled in worthless things. It is by utilizing the guidance and direction given by the Holy Spirit within us that we are able to keep our eyes focused on the prize that awaits us.  Striving to achieve riches and ‘things’ in this life will leave you spiritually bankrupt. No other entity can do for us what God can do and yet we seem to find time for everything and everyone else. It’s a discipline that must be cultivated.

       Seeking and serving God will preserve our lives. The heart that plugs into the Spirit of God will be revitalized. As our focus is on those things that truly matter, the eternal things, we will slowly shed our selfish ways and begin to live lives that are pleasing to our Heavenly Father. It is then that we shall see amazing things take place that can only be seen through the eyes of faith.    

       Having our hearts turned towards God will keep us from being involved in frivolous endeavors and help us know how to live rightly in the face of temptations. It’s our choice. We can acknowledge the truth, embrace it and allow it to change us from within or we can continue to chase after temporal things. God will never make us serve Him. We have received the gift of His redemptive work on the cross. Is that where our walk with Him ends? Do we turn away once the debt is paid or do we dedicate our lives to a walk that will lead us home? We must make that decision. It’s not all about us, but something much bigger. We can make a difference in this crazy, mixed up world. Choose to serve others through Christ rather than ourselves, for when we are self-serving we achieve nothing of any eternal value. God loves us and knows what we need. The question we need to ask ourselves each morning is “what would God have me do for Him today?” Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource:  The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale Publishing.

GOD’S WORD

Psalm 119:89-91 New Living Translation

“Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven. Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created. Your regulations remain true to this day, for everything serves your plans.”

       This world lives in the now.  It believes what it can see, taste, touch and hear, nothing else.  By virtue of these beliefs it negates the very existence of God in their minds.  That is their choice.  God is very gracious.  He’s not a dictator who demands that his creation love and serve him.  He created us all with our own decision-making capabilities called a ‘free will’.  That in and of itself is a wonderful gift to have.  Not all countries in our world allow that.  Heavy-handed rulers demand what they do not get voluntarily.  That’s no way to live and not what God intended.

       Here in the 119^th Psalm we see that God’s word, like God himself, is eternal.  He is faithful to perform that which he has promised without fail.  The catch that we choke on at times is the timing of his answers.  As believers in the Almighty, we must reconcile ourselves to the fact that his will is always just and fair and always on time.  He knows exactly what he’s doing at all times no matter what circumstances look like around us.  Some would ask, “why does God allow so much violence, death and destruction? I thought he was a God of love?”  He is but he doesn’t force his will on anyone. Man brings on the violence, death and destruction, not God.  God allows it because man has an unyielding spirit and does what he does in defiance of God or in some cases, sadly, in the name of God.

       God knows what he’s doing and has a plan that is playing out at this very moment.  Everything in existence was created by him and serves HIS plans, not mans.  Lay down your will and submit to the only one who can bring you eternal peace, contentment and fulfillment.  This world shall some day pass away, but God and his word shall never pass away.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Reformation Study Bible; Reformation Trust Publishing.

RELEASE YOUR FAITH

1 Corinthians 1:25 New International Version

… the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.”

          Man in all his supposed wisdom has invented a world in his own mind where there is no God. It has spilled over into reality where most avenues of media are secular and do not recognize a monotheistic entity to which they are to worship. All the efforts of man, no matter how incredible they may seem to others, pale in comparison to that which has been done and can be done by the spirit deity we embrace and worship called YHWH. The great “I AM WHO I AM”. It requires faith and trust to believe such things. Man has faith in himself and his own knowledge and abilities, never realizing where that knowledge and those abilities came from. They have deluded themselves into believing they are self-sufficient. It is only when they come to the end of all their own resources that they look heavenward.

       The creature can never be greater than its’ Creator. This is why Satan can never be greater than God and it is why man’s best efforts are meaningless in the eternal scheme of things. God was and is and always will be. It isn’t logical; frankly, it makes no sense at all to our finite minds. It will never make any sense until we let go of the rational and embrace the seemingly impossible. Until we allow our belief in things unseen to become alive we can never see things with spiritual eyes. Until we entertain the notion that there just might be an unseen deity either causing or allowing all things, we shall forever remain weak and unwise. Release your faith.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

GOD SPOKE

Hebrews 11:3 New Living Translation

“By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

       Man creates bridges and skyscrapers, 62” televisions as thin as a plate of glass and computer parts that can barely be seen with the naked eye.  We have created some pretty impressive things thru the ages, but even our greatest achievements pale in comparison to the vastest of God’s creation.  He did something we could never in a million years do; God spoke everything into existence.  Now if that seems a little far-fetched for you then perhaps you need a refresher course in just exactly who God is? 

       The awesome power that exists in God’s word alone is enough to turn mountains into valleys.  It’s enough to hold the planets in their respective orbits.  It is unmatched on this earth, which he also created. 

       No one can prove the existence of God. Conversely, no one can disprove his existence either.  Theories abound, but theories are not facts.  Since we’ve been given a free will to choose what to believe, we can believe whatever we’d like to believe.  Believing in God takes faith.  It doesn’t take any faith to believe in what you can see. Stretch your boundaries and allow God to speak to your heart.  If you sincerely want to know the Lord, speak to him today and allow him to rearrange your life.  If you do you will never be the same.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.

DEALING WITH ANGER

James 1:19-20 New Living Translation

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. A man’s anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.”

          Why do we get angry? Impatience could be one reason. When things just aren’t going our way on a given day we have a tendency to get frustrated and as a result lose our temper.  In the metallurgical world losing temper means simply that the material has either lost its hardness, thus becoming soft or lost its flexibility, becoming brittle. In our case, we have lost our flexibility. We have allowed circumstances beyond our control to get to us. We have allowed ourselves to get riled up, to become ticked off and it is usually all downhill from there.  I know because I lose my temper when things don’t go my way at times. I am much better than I used to be, but that side of me still rears its’ ugly head from time to time.  A lot of the time it happens when I’m driving.  How silly. We allow things that we can’t control get us so upset that we act in uncharacteristic ways and say inappropriate things.  I don’t need to do any research to know that is not what Jesus would do.

          Fortunately, this comes as no surprise to God. He knows us better than we know ourselves and I think He may just send some of these annoyances our way to see how we handle them. As believers we are to grow spiritually.  Godly resources are at our disposal anytime of the day or night, we just always seem to be doing something else besides taking advantage of them. We need to remember whose we are; we are ambassadors for Christ.  Are we acting like it? Are we living like it? I’m not at times. God knows we are frail and fault-filled. He also knows what we can be in Him. Let us all avail ourselves of His wonderful tools to become all we can be in the Lord. It’s a learning process; we are constantly under construction. Let us learn from our mistakes and make adjustments in our behavior so as not to look foolish to others, thus being no different than the world.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Anger defined: A strong feeling of displeasure or hostility; to make angry; enrage or provoke.

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.

YOU ARE BLESSED

Jeremiah 17:7-8 New Living Translation

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.  Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.  Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

       What a mental picture Jeremiah paints for us. A tree planted by a stream feeding it nourishment continuously. Have you ever known such a place? I have. I used to take long walks on Saturdays during my teen years. The serenity of those walks was unparalleled. The writer states that the person who places his trust in the Lord is blessed, not was blessed or will be blessed, but is blessed. That is to say that followers of Christ are highly favored.  God favors His children and if you are a true believer in Christ, then you are highly favored by God. What a wonderful thing to hear.  Don’t just read it and run.  Meditate on it.  Consider who you are to God. Consider who God is. Consider who you are in God.  Consider where you would be without him.  Do you realize what an honor and privilege it is to not just be favored, but highly favored by the creator of the entire universe? This isn’t a blanket of favor that is dropped over all humanity; it is for those who have placed their faith and trust in Him. 

       Verse 5 of this same chapter speaks of those who put their trust in mere mortals.  Mortal man, with his human strength and finite intellect, has nothing to offer us other than flawed reasoning and limited resources.  The Lord clearly states that those who place their trust in them will turn their hearts away from God and be stunted like undernourished shrubs in the desert.  There is no hope for those who turn from God.

       Our walk with God shouldn’t consist of merely seeking him when we are in dire need. We are to devote our entire life to him. Though it is not specifically stated, the implication in the above verses is that we are to give our entire life over to Him and trust Him no matter what comes our way. We are to rely on Him in all situations and circumstances. May the Lord enable us to do just that all the days of our lives.  Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resource: The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.