Month: June 2020

Triple O

Omnipotent, all-powerful. God is the creator of the universe contrary to popular beliefs. As described in Psalm 74:13-17, He is the master of all. There is nothing that God cannot do. Yet, as powerful as He is, He won’t force Himself into our lives. We must let Him in and give Him the control. He asks us to give Him our hearts. We tend to forget that He gives life and it is His anyway. But more than anything, He gave us free will. What a powerful thing. And, though He gave it to us, He allows us the choice on whether to give it back to Him for His purpose and glory. And, yes there is always more with God, He loves us regardless. So much so that He gave His only Son, Jesus, that we would have the means to reconcile with Him.

Psalm 74:13-17 – 13 “It was You who split open the sea by your power; You broke the heads of the monster in the waters. 14 It was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert. 15 The day is Yours, and Yours also the night; You established the sun and moon. 16 It was you who opened up springs and streams; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers. 17 It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter.”

God is…Omniscient, all-knowing. If you want to know something, ask the Lord. James (1:5) states that if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God. Many times, when we think of asking God, we feel like we can’t or won’t wait for the answer. However, with God, there is always an answer. It is “yes”, “no”, or “wait.” Now, let’s say that God does answer you, are ready for the answer. If yes, are you prepared for whatever comes along with that yes? If no, are we prepared to trust that God knows what’s best for us? We may think we need what we want right now, however, since God is the omniscient one, He knows the future and may see something attached to that thing which is harmful to us. Remember His love for us. He is good to us whether we always see it or not. Can you “wait” on God when you need to?

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

God is…Omnipresent, present everywhere. We see evidence of God all around us, from the neighbor or person next to us – man created in God’s image – to the beauty and wonderment of nature. However, God is also present in the spirit. The Word states that God is spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:23-24 – 23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

God is just that awesome that He would give us a deposit of His Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us. He is present everywhere. Let us exalt Him daily and give Him the praise, honor and glory due His name. This post is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the awesomeness of God, and then some more fractions. He is an all-consuming fire within us when we let Him be. Won’t you join me in worshiping the one, true God?

God’s Faithfulness

Deuteronomy 32:4 – “He is the Rock,” His works are perfect,” and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.”

When we consider God’s faithfulness, what is it that we think about? Do we assume that means no sorrow, no pain, no trials, or discomfort? It took 400 years for the Israelites to be freed from Egypt. Does that diminish God’s faithfulness? Did they question God’s faithfulness when they reached the Red Sea and things looked really bad? They were not confident at all that they would reach the other side. However, as God always does, He was right on time. He shows up and shows out.

Psalm 91:4 – He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”

In the above Scripture, the word rampart means defense. In Deuteronomy, God showed His defense for the Israelites. Though life brings serious difficulties and pain, God will bring us through. The question that might need to be answered is if you had no difficulties, no challenges, no pain or sorrow, would you still need God? Of course. We would not be here without God. Difficulties for some may be more important because of financial challenges. However, those with money still find there are serious challenges. Money will not fix everything. It will make physical things a little more comfortable. Do the tears on a down comforter feel less significant?

Lamentations 3:22-23 – 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Consider that every morning, you have another opportunity to make things better, do things better, accept God’s love for you and appreciate the day. How awesome is that!

Romans 3:3 – What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

We must ask ourselves the hard questions.

Still Committed, Faithful

Nature expresses God’s faithfulness.

Expounding on the post regarding being committed, it would serve us well to look at our standard for commitment. God. He is committed, faithful to us. There are Scriptures, of course, that speak to this characteristic of God. In order to become wise about commitment, let us go the Scriptures. God loved us so much and was so committed to us that He gave His only Son that we might have life, and that more abundantly.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 10:10 - “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

The Psalms are such comforting chapters for us no matter where we are or what state we are in and sincerely speaks of God’s faithfulness. When we seek comfort for heartache, tough circumstances, and anything else this life throws at us, the Word says the following, from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

Deuteronomy 7:9 - “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

When reading the Old Testament, it is clear that God was faithful to the children of Israel, from the parting of the Red Sea to providing manna from heaven and water from a rock. Just the simplicity of God providing something out of nothing moves me. Sure there are times when it is difficult, but remembering His faithfulness is strengthening and refreshing. Understand that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways not our ways. There are times when patience has to have that perfect work where you endure because you are faithful to Him and trust Him.

Psalm 145:13 – “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,” and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all He promises and faithful in all He does.”

There is nothing that you will experience that God cannot get you through. Not unless you don’t want Him to. He is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. He is present everywhere, knows everything and is all powerful. If there was ever a source to connect to, He is it. Yes, things are crazy and chaotic right now. Some might say they don’t believe because of that, what would they be committing to? But know this, God is still and always will be in control. He has allowed things to happen for His glory. They are at times uncomfortable, painful, and just get in the way of us getting what we want right now! Let’s keep it real, when we feel the most discomfort, it’s because we believe that we are not getting what we want and He may be keeping it from us. However, since God is all knowing, there may be something that will be harmful to you and God will not allow it. That said, what He does allow He knows you will be alright.

1 Corinthians 10:13 - “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

God desires our heart. He wants us to be committed to Him; not our flesh, not the enemy and not the world. Are you committed? Are you still committed?

Committed

Devoted, faithful….

Today, this post is about being committed. What are you committed to, voluntarily or involuntarily? It can be supposed that you are in complete control of what you are committed to. However, after doing some research, I find that you may be involuntarily committed to things you don’t want to be committed to. Our habits definitely paint a picture of what we are committed to. Think about what you do daily without even thinking about it, and you will find that there are things you might not have thought about. Work, hygiene, TV time, game time, etc. are just a few. Granted hygiene and work are very important. Wondering were I am going with this?

Commitment to God and our spiritual lives is equally, if not more important. It’s difficult to be committed, effective and productive at work, if you are falling apart. It’s difficult to care about your hygiene if you are depressed. The point is that there is a serious need to be committed to your spiritual life and eternal destination. While some may not deem this to be that serious, take a look at the world today. Something is amiss with all the hate, anger, frustration, and destruction going on. Then, throw on top the pandemic and the other natural disasters that have continued which we have no control over whatsoever.

In my recovery journey, a major part of what I have learned is just that, what I have been committed to involuntarily. The obsessive compulsive behaviors that had control over my life including my thoughts I was involuntarily committed to until I began to really face what I was committed to. It was about what I was doing on a regular basis without even thinking about it. And, as we all know, our thoughts compel our behaviors.

1 Kings 8:61-And may your hearts be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.”

I would like to challenge you to evaluate what you are committed to. In that process, consider your commitment to God because He is committed to us. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son that we might have life, and that more abundantly. A synonym for committed is faithful. God has shown His faithfulness to us by reconciling us through Christ Jesus. Let us consider the value of the things that we are committed to. Are we faithful to Him like He is to us? Would replacing some commitments be so farfetched if your eternal life depended on it? No matter what is going on in the world today, however challenging, our presence here is temporary. That is why it is so important to make your spiritual and eternal life the priority.

What are you committed to?

Pray, Pray and Keep on Praying

  • God’s Hand
We need God’s hand to move…

I was reading my post “Welcome 2020” again. Who knew? Wow, this year has brought some major stuff our way. From the pandemic, the injustice to people of color, the anger leading to destruction and who knows what else. There are times when the only thing I can say is “Jesus help us. We need you.”

I have God’s peace even with all this going on. That doesn’t mean I don’t feel the pain of others though. Even those who have responded in destruction to the pain they feel. I will continue to pray that God moves us through this chaos and His will is on the other side of it. Right now, I believe that God is calling us all to pray for those hurting and those doing the hurting. Our hearts need to change, first toward God and then towards others.

II Chronicles 7:14 – “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

The enemy only comes to steal, kill and destroy. He’s having a field day right now. Prayer warriors, let’s move forward in prayer, like never before! This is warfare.