Trusting

Ever play the trust game as a young teen?  You stand on a short ledge and fall backward into the arms of a small group of friends, trusting they will catch you before you hit the ground hard. We may not always be able to fully trust those around us, but we will always be able to trust in the arms of God.

We are encouraged in the Word that no matter what the circumstances, press in hard after God. The Psalmist shouts in Psalm 63:8, "My Soul follows hard after Thee; Thy right Hand upholds me." God is a Sovereign God who undergirds us with His strength and orders our steps. 

If we walk "in Christ" we are guaranteed the safety of His grip and the guidance of His Spirit. When we follow hard after God, He sees our passion to serve Him and be obedient to His Word. He said, those who love me will keep my commandments. When we walk in His Word, we welcome His Divine Blessings and Favor.

Life is not always perfect, not always free of sickness and pain, and certainly is not without loss. But one thing is certain.... when we follow hard after God, we know He is in control. All things rest in His Sovereignty and He always knows what is best. He has a plan for us and we must trust Him fully. 

Cast Your Care

Do you realize that when you face anxiety or adversity you can cast all your care upon the Lord?  The Psalmist proclaims in Psalm 55:22, "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall."  

When you are burdened with the heaviness of life, give it to God. When your load is so heavy it feels as if you are going to fall beneath it, lay it in the arms of God. Cast your cares on the Lord. When you do, God has promised to keep you, to sustain you.

Let's look at the word sustain.  This word means to hold steady, to support, to prolong, to carry, to extend in duration. The word sustain means to keep alive, to bear the weight, to withstand the pressure, to hold up while weak. 

The Bible teaches God will never let the righteous fall. He will sustain you and hold you up. When the world sends you in a tailspin, give God your anxieties and frustrations. Cast your cares on God. His promise is to keep you in all places, where ever you go.

Fading

As we walk the Christian life we must be careful to stay on the right path and not drift back. The warning sign should read, "no drifting allowed."

 

The prophet Isaiah declares, "we all do fade and shrivel up like a leaf, and like a leaf, our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6)  This is a warning to the people of God to never allow the sins of this world to carry you away from the things of God. But notice Isaiah speaks of it as a process.

When you turn your heart away from God it does not happen overnight. When you walk away from your relationship with Christ and follow sin, it is not a quick and sudden dive into the world. It begins with small, subtle changes in your daily habits and behavior.

Perhaps at first you fall into the trap of prayerlessness. Life without prayer gives you calluses on your heart and creates an attitude that is independent of Christ.  It makes you careless concerning spiritual matters.  Perhaps you do not pick up the Word and feed yourself spiritually through the week but rely solely on the pastor to feed you on Sunday morning.  At this point your spiritual man is starving for food to survive.  But someone you rationalize that you are okay and continue in your ways.  Your once green and vibrant leaves now begin fading, drying and become shriveled up leaves.  You've been setup by the enemy of your soul who has used your lack of passion against you. You are now ready to be swept away by your own sins.

This is the process the adversary uses to defeat you. It is crucial to understand the warning the Scripture, as it will strike you powerless against the schemes of your enemy. Before you realize it, you will become dried and shriveled.  

 

Jesus said, I have overcome the world. And you are more than a conqueror through the blood of Jesus Christ. Determine today to set a watch and guard the garden of your heart. Let that garden sustain itself with the water and food of the Word. 

Afraid

Do you realize there are times when we are all afraid? The Psalmist made a clear statement of faith in Psalm 56:3, "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You."  What I gathered from this passage is the fact there will be times when you and I are fearful and do not know what will happen next.  We may be disillusioned by the condition of this present world or the things we are facing, but we must push with everything within us to trust in the Faithfulness of a Mighty God.

Because we live in a fallen world, we will face sickness, pain, death, tragedy, hard times and struggles in relationships.  Mankind has been granted a free will by God and will continue to walk his own way and make decisions that do not line up with God's Divine and perfect plan.  

What we can do to better the hard situations of life is simply to draw close to and trust in God.  Work hard to allow God to be the driving force within you and pray often.  Listen for the voice of God and do the will of God with the decisions you make in life.

God desires to bless you.  He desires to keep you well and strong.  He wants your relationships to be wholesome and pure.  So develop a heart like His and a spiritual ear that is open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  God wants His very best for you.  Therefore, when life has been hard and you find yourself afraid, push through and place your trust in the Lord.

God Wants You

Did you know it does not matter how old you are to God? Through Scripture, God used the young, the old, the middle-aged.  And He used people of all diversities. He used people with challenges and accepted people of all walks of life.

1 Timothy 4:12, "Do not let anyone treat you as if you are unimportant because you are young. Instead, be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life."

Being young does not lower your self-worth or value in the body of Christ. Neither does being old. God chose to use multiple young people in Bible times to convey his message, bring healing to the sick, act in great faith, and do miracles.  David was approximately eleven years old when he slayed the 9 ft giant, Goliath. Josiah was only seven years old when he became king of Israel, and Solomon was twelve. And a little boy with a little lunch was the conduit through which over 5,000 people were fed on a hillside. And there were great men of the bible who were over the age of 100 and continued to be God's instrument in a fallen world. God continues to use young and old people in the world today.

There are no more excuses for how young you are or your lack of experience.  Neither is there an excuse for being too old.  The anointing of God on your life will make an eternal impact. Follow God faithfully and be an example, "with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life." Get ready for God to use you in small and great ways.  You are His ambassador in this present world.

Attitude Check

Often, we have the mindset that we are "All That!...and a bag of chips!" Confidence is valued, but sometimes we become overbearing. When we think too highly of ourselves, we run the danger of failure when we allow pride to swell up so large that it drives our life. 

Self-pride is necessary to keep yourself properly groomed and maintain good work ethic.  However, when we begin to think the sun rises and sets in ourselves, our mindset is definitely distorted and our vision clouded. We must prefer others above ourselves and maintain a level of humility. The Word of God bears this out. 

Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." And Failure is definitely in our future when we think too highly of ourselves.

We must be careful to take an attitude check. We can become complacent and conform to the people we spend time with. Therefore, we must spend time talking with God and allow the Scripture to evaluate our attitudes. The Holy Spirit will always bring us back into check, if we will be quiet and learn to listen to His promptings.

Romans 12:3, "...Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

Time to Pluck

Have you ever had a splinter in your hand or a thorn in your finger? Ouch. Your hand or finger gets sore and the splinter or thorn can cause inflammation and and even infection if it is not removed? There are people who sometimes come into your life who also will tend to infect you with spiritual disease. They will discourage you and fester infection. Now is the is time to take a stand and refresh your mind. Choose your friends wisely and decide to be new in Christ. This requires guarding your heart. It is time to pluck. And it is a NOW time. 

I am not saying to isolate yourself from sinners because how can we reach them if we do not share time with them. But be careful of those who poison your mind and spirit. The time has come to pluck people from your life that do not promote your spiritual well-being and that constantly interfere with a healthy relationship with God. (Numbers 33:55-56) Remove the splinter. And stop the infection.

People who call themselves Christians will sometimes stop by to discourage you and cause you harm. Their scheme has been conjured up by the enemy of your soul to defeat and to destroy you. They attempt to befriend you, but friendship is not really what they are bargaining for. They would like nothing less than to see you fall by the wayside and die spiritually. But God came to give you life and life more abundantly. 

Therefore, be firm in Christ Jesus and pluck the thorns that cause you inflammation and pain. Distance yourself from those who drag you under. Refuse to lower yourself into being driven by the wind and tossed. God has set your feet on the Rock and He stands ready to assist you in being strong in Him. "Guard your heart for out of it flow the issues of life."

His Name

The Psalmist uses numerous descriptive terms in the course of his writings to depict the glory of God. In Psalm 8:1, Scripture declares: "O Lord, our Lord, How Excellent is Your Name in all the earth; You who set Your Glory Above the Heavens!"

When you realize in your life Who God is, then you will understand His Excellence. No one can explain His Glory to you. The explanation is impossible, but you must experience His Glory and His Excellence for yourself. Once you see His splendor, then you are able to comprehend how incredible and excellent God truly is. 

If you pray and ask God to place you in a right relationship with Him, then you can ask God about things that trouble you and situations you would like to see change. Once you walk in that covenant relationship with Him, you can see His Excellence at work in your personal life because no problem is too large for Him to solve. 

When your heart is surrendered to the Name above all names, you will desire His will to be accomplished in your life. It will no longer be all about you, but will become "How do I live a life pleasing to God, Name above all names?"

His Glory is Far Above the Heavens and is so vast, no one can grasp its depth, its height, its length and its width. But to know the love of God personally is to experience the excellence of God.

Robbed of Hope

The biggest tool of the enemy is discouragement. Your enemy knows if he can rob you of your hope, he has you down and ready to be pinned. You may wonder what your answer is. It is simple: When discouraged, get yourself into the Word. This is where you and I find incredible hope.  Read more and spend more time with God. 

Romans 15:4 teaches, "For whatsoever things were written afore time were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope."

There is pain in our personal lives. Physical problems affect our bodies, emotional turmoil comes out of no where without alert. We live in a day and in a time where discouragement is everywhere. Life is full of trouble. But we also face spiritual struggles when we do not spend enough time with God in His Word.

Bible reading increases hope. When you open the Scripture daily to receive the blessings of the Word, you become strengthened in the inner man. The more you feed your spiritual man the Word, the more discouragement runs the other direction. If you are discouraged today, step into the Book of Psalms and be encouraged with praise from the Word.

Heart Trouble

Jesus teaches that sometimes man has heart trouble: issues with his heart, his motivation, and his thought processes. When you have pain in your chest and you visit your physician, he will put you through a series of tests that check the function of your heart. The Word is clear that we should take the time to always examine the inner workings of our spiritual heart. By doing so, we will find where we have truly and honestly placed our treasure.

Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Doing good for the right reasons is more important to God than just our works alone. God is concerned with why we do what we do. If we carry 10 pots of soup to the sick this week only to write in a journal and keep track of our good works, then we have done good for the wrong reason.

Matthew 6 is asking each of us to examine our heart and our priorities. Where do you spend your time? Do you proceed to do the things you know God's Word instructs you to do like give, tithe, treat others with honor and respect? Do you place others before yourself and care about the needs of the hurting and the poor? Or are you selfish and absorbed with only you?

Examine your checkbook and see where your heart is? Do you spend your finances on big screen televisions and manicures, pedicures, and hair salons without any assistance going to those who have no food? Do you dine out and waste money on entertainment and vacations, but fail to give to the house of God that the Word of God may be preached and continue to reach the lost?

When it comes to matters of the heart it is imperative that we ask ourselves, Where is our heart? "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."