"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
A while back I read a little sign that was hanging on an office wall- I have also received it as an email (you probably have too). I want to share it with you this morning. It said, "Good morning, this is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help... so have a good day." I thought it was a good reminder. When problems arise... not if... when... because they do arise, and more frequently than we wish, we tend to try to handle them ourselves. Even if we go to God with them, it's not long before we find our hands on them trying to solve the problem, trying to manipulate the situation, trying to make something happen. The end result of our "help" usually only makes matters worse. Abraham and Sarah tried to help God and got an Ishmael.
Are you trying to "help" God? Are you trying to tell Him how to solve the problem? Are you trying to take matters into your own hands? Are you trying to make something happen? Are you pushing God aside and trying to figure it out on your own? Or are you letting Him handle the problem- the whole problem- His way, according to His wisdom and plan, in His own time? Are you going to let go and take your hands off and trust Him to handle it? I would have a terrible problem if I had to figure out how to create a day. But He solved the "problem" of how to create it... because it was no problem for Him at all. "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." (Luke 18:27) Let the fact that today is here be a reminder to you that He is well able to handle anything on His own and does not need your help. If He does need it... like my parents used to tell me... "if I need your help, I'll ask for it".
Have a great day. He doesn't need your help, if He does He'll ask for it, so take your hands off or you are going to wind up giving Him more than one problem to solve.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
"One Tongue"
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." Psalm 19:14
There is a song that says, "Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing praise to the King". If we had a thousand tongues we still couldn't praise Him enough. Would we use all one thousand of them to praise and honor Him? Since we don't have a thousand, but we do have one, I have to ask the question... "What are you doing with the one tongue you have?"
How are you using it? Are you using it to edify, to encourage, to speak words of kindness and healing? Are you using it to bring hope? Are your words words of peace, faith, blessings? Do your words truly glorify God? Or do you use your tongue to backbite, discourage, intimidate? Do you speak words of unbelief, doubt, cursing? Do you tear down, condemn, murmur and complain? Do you use it for both- blessings and cursing, truth and lies, faith and fear, encouragement and discouragement?
Often, we just say what we want to say and give no thought to our words. I encourage, and challenge, you today to pay attention to your speech. Give yourself a test and take note of how you are using your tongue. Here is a prayer for our tongues which is posted on my Khawdash blog. Maybe we should be praying it everyday??
A Prayer for the Tongue: I pray forgiveness for my tongue. Help me, Lord, to never use it as a weapon against my brother. Remind me to wear my bridle so I can keep it under control. Teach me to bite it, so that I may feel the pain that it could cause others. Show me where to purchase a lock for my mouth, so that my tongue will not escape. Help me to think of it as a valuable object so that I will keep it to myself. I pray that my mind will be in gear before my tongue goes into motion. Take away the gift of gab. Thank You for my little tongue. Help me to never let it get big. Let it always be used for good and it tell the world of Your love. Amen.
Have a great day. We must use our tongues in a manner in which glorifies God.
There is a song that says, "Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing praise to the King". If we had a thousand tongues we still couldn't praise Him enough. Would we use all one thousand of them to praise and honor Him? Since we don't have a thousand, but we do have one, I have to ask the question... "What are you doing with the one tongue you have?"
How are you using it? Are you using it to edify, to encourage, to speak words of kindness and healing? Are you using it to bring hope? Are your words words of peace, faith, blessings? Do your words truly glorify God? Or do you use your tongue to backbite, discourage, intimidate? Do you speak words of unbelief, doubt, cursing? Do you tear down, condemn, murmur and complain? Do you use it for both- blessings and cursing, truth and lies, faith and fear, encouragement and discouragement?
Often, we just say what we want to say and give no thought to our words. I encourage, and challenge, you today to pay attention to your speech. Give yourself a test and take note of how you are using your tongue. Here is a prayer for our tongues which is posted on my Khawdash blog. Maybe we should be praying it everyday??
A Prayer for the Tongue: I pray forgiveness for my tongue. Help me, Lord, to never use it as a weapon against my brother. Remind me to wear my bridle so I can keep it under control. Teach me to bite it, so that I may feel the pain that it could cause others. Show me where to purchase a lock for my mouth, so that my tongue will not escape. Help me to think of it as a valuable object so that I will keep it to myself. I pray that my mind will be in gear before my tongue goes into motion. Take away the gift of gab. Thank You for my little tongue. Help me to never let it get big. Let it always be used for good and it tell the world of Your love. Amen.
Have a great day. We must use our tongues in a manner in which glorifies God.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
"Thanksgiving"
"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving." Psalm 69:30
We will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day here in America in a couple of days. Hopefully, we won't be so caught up in the traditional meal, the family gatherings, our own unique customs, that we forget why we are celebrating. I realize that this is an American celebration commemorating a time in our history, but whether you live in America or another country if you are a born again child of God you have something- so much- to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is not just a day on a calendar, a holiday celebrated by a certain nation, a historical commemoration, it should be a lifestyle for those of us who have surrendered our lives to and placed our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is it for you? Is it your lifestyle? Is everyday a day of thanksgiving? Do you live with a praise of thanksgiving on your lips? Do you reserve your thanks for special occasions only such as when things are going well, once a year, during church service, when the Lord answers your prayers? Each day that we wake up is cause enough to give God thanks. Knowing that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life is more than enough reason to thank Him daily. As a matter of fact, that fact alone is enough to keep a praise of thanksgiving on your lips morning, noon and night.
Have you lost your thanksgiving? Have you allowed the cares of life, it's problems, discouraging news, bad reports, personal trials, disturbing circumstances, unpleasant situations to rob you of a heart of thanksgiving? Has it been replaced with grumbling, self-pity, ingratitude? Then you need to get it back. You need to begin to bring a "sacrifice of praise" to the Lord. If you can't do it sincerely, then do it by faith... just start doing it. He is worthy and you have been too blessed not to!! "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Have a great day. Everyday is a day of thanksgiving... so thank Him today.
We will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day here in America in a couple of days. Hopefully, we won't be so caught up in the traditional meal, the family gatherings, our own unique customs, that we forget why we are celebrating. I realize that this is an American celebration commemorating a time in our history, but whether you live in America or another country if you are a born again child of God you have something- so much- to be thankful for. Thanksgiving is not just a day on a calendar, a holiday celebrated by a certain nation, a historical commemoration, it should be a lifestyle for those of us who have surrendered our lives to and placed our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is it for you? Is it your lifestyle? Is everyday a day of thanksgiving? Do you live with a praise of thanksgiving on your lips? Do you reserve your thanks for special occasions only such as when things are going well, once a year, during church service, when the Lord answers your prayers? Each day that we wake up is cause enough to give God thanks. Knowing that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life is more than enough reason to thank Him daily. As a matter of fact, that fact alone is enough to keep a praise of thanksgiving on your lips morning, noon and night.
Have you lost your thanksgiving? Have you allowed the cares of life, it's problems, discouraging news, bad reports, personal trials, disturbing circumstances, unpleasant situations to rob you of a heart of thanksgiving? Has it been replaced with grumbling, self-pity, ingratitude? Then you need to get it back. You need to begin to bring a "sacrifice of praise" to the Lord. If you can't do it sincerely, then do it by faith... just start doing it. He is worthy and you have been too blessed not to!! "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
Have a great day. Everyday is a day of thanksgiving... so thank Him today.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
"Brick Wall"
"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:6
Have you ever come up against a "brick wall"? You're going down the road of life then all of a sudden, almost out of no where, you run into an obstacle. Your path is completely blocked- you can't go forward, there is no way around it, it's just there. What do you do? Do you sit down and just stare at it? Do you turn around and go back? One of the two is usually the course that we take. Neither of them are the course of action we should take- one keeps you stuck in the present and the other pulls you back to the past. We are suppose to be advancing forward.
There is another course of action that we can take. It's called praise, speaking to the mountain, putting your trust in God. As you look to Him instead of at the brick wall- praising Him, seeking His guidance, stepping forward in faith and confidence in His ability to cause you to keep going forward no matter what arises, something is going to happen to that wall. You will see it either move aside to let you by, see it vanish away, find a door of passage through it, or you will discover loose bricks that can be removed one by one until the way is clear.
Don't sit there and stare at it. Don't be discouraged by it and turn back. Seek the Lord about it, listen to what He says, let Him show you what to do, then obey Him. The Israelites came to a "brick wall", it was called the Red Sea. Moses acknowledged the Lord and waited to hear from Him, God showed him the course of action to take and it was moved out of their way. The same thing with the walls of Jericho. Joshua sought the Lord for the course of action and the walls came tumbling down.
Have a great day. Seek God concerning the course of action you need to take so that you can keep moving forward.
Have you ever come up against a "brick wall"? You're going down the road of life then all of a sudden, almost out of no where, you run into an obstacle. Your path is completely blocked- you can't go forward, there is no way around it, it's just there. What do you do? Do you sit down and just stare at it? Do you turn around and go back? One of the two is usually the course that we take. Neither of them are the course of action we should take- one keeps you stuck in the present and the other pulls you back to the past. We are suppose to be advancing forward.
There is another course of action that we can take. It's called praise, speaking to the mountain, putting your trust in God. As you look to Him instead of at the brick wall- praising Him, seeking His guidance, stepping forward in faith and confidence in His ability to cause you to keep going forward no matter what arises, something is going to happen to that wall. You will see it either move aside to let you by, see it vanish away, find a door of passage through it, or you will discover loose bricks that can be removed one by one until the way is clear.
Don't sit there and stare at it. Don't be discouraged by it and turn back. Seek the Lord about it, listen to what He says, let Him show you what to do, then obey Him. The Israelites came to a "brick wall", it was called the Red Sea. Moses acknowledged the Lord and waited to hear from Him, God showed him the course of action to take and it was moved out of their way. The same thing with the walls of Jericho. Joshua sought the Lord for the course of action and the walls came tumbling down.
Have a great day. Seek God concerning the course of action you need to take so that you can keep moving forward.
Monday, November 24, 2008
"The Place Of Peace"
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1
The key to having peace of mind and heart depends on where you put your faith- what you believe in. There is so much in this life that will cause our hearts to become "troubled". We live in a world that is being shaken from one corner to the other. Countries are being shaken, governments are being shaken, economies are being shaken, the literal earth is being shaken through natural disasters- you never know what news you'll wake up to each morning. The whole world seems to be riding on a roller coaster- up and down, down and up, and back down again. It will make your head spin as the events move at such a fast pace, changing right before your eyes. Therefore, we have to place our belief (our faith, our trust, our hope) in the right place if we want to have peace.
Peace won't come by placing your faith in temporal things- in the things that are here today and gone tomorrow. It won't come by placing your faith in that which is frail- it falls at the slightest pressure. You can't have peace if your faith is in that which is limited- limited in strength, power and knowledge. "Don't let your hearts be troubled." Why? How is that possible? Because your belief is in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. When your faith is in the Lord, it is rooted in that which is eternal- He will never pass away. It's anchored in the One who is anything but frail- the Omnipotent (All Powerful God). It is built upon the One who is not limited by anything- time, space, the economy, etc. He is not limited in strength, in wisdom, in power, in resources, in knowledge. There is no lack or limitation in Him. He isn't here today and gone tomorrow. His power and ability doesn't diminish with time. Bad reports done make Him shutter or shake, He doesn't become panic stricken, faint from fear or collapse under pressure. He is not affected by the economy, by world events, by the stock market, by fuel prices, by unemployment, by evil rulers, by terrorists, by threats of war or by bad reports.
God always remains at peace, because He IS peace. He doesn't just posses peace but the very essence of His being and His whole nature is peace. Wouldn't you feel safer, more secure, more at ease by placing your faith in the One who is peace. Let me give you a crude little analogy. Let's suppose you want to go for a swim, so you go to the coast with it's sandy white beaches and inviting blue waters. But instead of getting in the water, you lay down on the sand, start kicking your feet, make stroking motions with your arms and wiggle around in the sand- you call yourself swimming. But you aren't swimming, you are flouncing in the sand. If you want to swim, you have to get in the water. If you want peace, you have to "get into peace"- God is peace- get in God. Trying to find peace in any other place- in the temporal, the frail, the limited- is like "flouncing in the sand".
Have a great day. The key to peace is by placing your faith in the One who is peace.
The key to having peace of mind and heart depends on where you put your faith- what you believe in. There is so much in this life that will cause our hearts to become "troubled". We live in a world that is being shaken from one corner to the other. Countries are being shaken, governments are being shaken, economies are being shaken, the literal earth is being shaken through natural disasters- you never know what news you'll wake up to each morning. The whole world seems to be riding on a roller coaster- up and down, down and up, and back down again. It will make your head spin as the events move at such a fast pace, changing right before your eyes. Therefore, we have to place our belief (our faith, our trust, our hope) in the right place if we want to have peace.
Peace won't come by placing your faith in temporal things- in the things that are here today and gone tomorrow. It won't come by placing your faith in that which is frail- it falls at the slightest pressure. You can't have peace if your faith is in that which is limited- limited in strength, power and knowledge. "Don't let your hearts be troubled." Why? How is that possible? Because your belief is in God and in the Lord Jesus Christ. When your faith is in the Lord, it is rooted in that which is eternal- He will never pass away. It's anchored in the One who is anything but frail- the Omnipotent (All Powerful God). It is built upon the One who is not limited by anything- time, space, the economy, etc. He is not limited in strength, in wisdom, in power, in resources, in knowledge. There is no lack or limitation in Him. He isn't here today and gone tomorrow. His power and ability doesn't diminish with time. Bad reports done make Him shutter or shake, He doesn't become panic stricken, faint from fear or collapse under pressure. He is not affected by the economy, by world events, by the stock market, by fuel prices, by unemployment, by evil rulers, by terrorists, by threats of war or by bad reports.
God always remains at peace, because He IS peace. He doesn't just posses peace but the very essence of His being and His whole nature is peace. Wouldn't you feel safer, more secure, more at ease by placing your faith in the One who is peace. Let me give you a crude little analogy. Let's suppose you want to go for a swim, so you go to the coast with it's sandy white beaches and inviting blue waters. But instead of getting in the water, you lay down on the sand, start kicking your feet, make stroking motions with your arms and wiggle around in the sand- you call yourself swimming. But you aren't swimming, you are flouncing in the sand. If you want to swim, you have to get in the water. If you want peace, you have to "get into peace"- God is peace- get in God. Trying to find peace in any other place- in the temporal, the frail, the limited- is like "flouncing in the sand".
Have a great day. The key to peace is by placing your faith in the One who is peace.
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