Month: November 2016

We fret and we stew wondering why God hasn’t moved in our lives. We go through the motion of greeting each new day in the same routine frame of mind with little expectation that today will be any different than the day before. At night we close our eyes with little thought to how it might have all been anything more that it was, each today becomes yesterday and tomorrow becomes today in the same rhythm of mundaneness. In the back of our mind sits the ever present notion that somehow tomorrow will be different, yet the cycle continues day-in and day-out with no evidence of  change in our lives. We restrict our lives to a never ending existence of wandering in a desert wilderness of our own making.  When just beyond the grasp of our limited prayer life is the promised land, a land of joy and fullness of life that God has promised to those who will ask of him.

“. . .  ye have not, because ye ask not.” James 4:2

“Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full.” John 16:24

We are the only limiting factor in our lives. We have not because we ask not.

“For everyone that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth: and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:10

The problem lies in our unbelief, our lack of faith in what God has promised stifles the life that we could have today.

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22

No only do we have the promise of what we ask for in prayer, but we have the promise of receiving abundantly more than we ask or think.

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us.” Ephesians 3:20

We fail to focus upon the power that worketh within us. Our lack of faith limits our ability to see the impossible become possible in our lives.

“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Matthew 17:20-21

But, because we ask not we continue to lack that for which our soul longs . . .  a life of promise, a life that makes a difference, a life that will matter 100 years from today !!!

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” John 15:16

Ask of Him today . . .  seek Him with your whole heart  . . .  recognize the power of His might . . .  and believe in the possible !!!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-89

 

 

When the way is unclear and the path ahead is unknown, when we do not understand where to turn or how to move forward; we need to remember that it is God that goes before us. He knows the way, he has already walked this way before. He will never leave us alone, he will never forsake us and he will never fail us.

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

When the way is unclear and the steps we should follow have not been revealed to us, we can rest in the promise that he has a plan for our lives. God has called us for a specific purpose and he has chosen us as his servant for the path that he has set before us. Nothing takes God by surprise. He clearly sees each step ahead of us before the next one becomes visible, he alone is our strength. We should never fear because he has promised to be our God, to help us and to hold us. 

“Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isaiah 41:9-10

When the way is unclear and the trials of life become heavy upon us, we need to remember that he knows the way. As we trust in him to lead us through, as we learn more of him and his promises each day our faith will become stronger shining forth as gold.

“But he knoweth the way that I take; when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10

 

When the way is unclear and the heaviness upon us becomes almost unbearable, we need only to look to God.  He has promised that it will only last for a season and in that season we can rejoice, knowing that through the refining of our faith he will receive honor and glory.

“Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” I Peter 1:6-7

When the way is unclear and uncertainty sets in, he has promised to instruct us and to teach us the way. Our ability does not lie within us, but within him as he guides us in the way that we should go.

“I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Psalm 32:8

When the way is unclear and we struggle to find our purpose, we need to be reminded that God has saved us and called us for “His purpose“. We need to focus on him and his purpose for our lives rather than one that we might chose for ourselves. Our life purpose was formed in his mind even before the world began, only God knows the way before us that will bring us to the fulfillment of his calling in us.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which, was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.”
II Timothy 1:9

When the way is unclear and we seem to lose our place, we need to focus our minds on him and the work that he is doing in our lives. We do not have the ability to perform a good work, that can only be accomplished through allowing him to do his work in and through us. Nothing within us is good, it all comes from him. He is making his plan perfect within us and in him we can have confidence. 

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

When we come to the realization that it is not in our power to achieve his plan in our lives, surrendering to him and allowing him to do his work in us; then and only then will we become what he intended us to be. The fact is that we do not need to clearly see the path ahead, we simply need to clearly see the one who goes before us; “then and only then will the way become clear for he is the way“.

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6

“A man’s heart deviseth his way; but the Lord directeth his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

“For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy names sake lead me, and guide me.” Psalm 31:3

“For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death.” Psalm 48:14

“To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:79

“But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 9:10

Each day passes one into the next and I find myself engulfed in the struggles that each one brings my way. The weariness settles in and zaps the joy of my soul. I lose the ability to see God even though all around me his presence is evident in even the smallest of moments; the radiant colors of the falling leaves, the bluest sky against the purest white clouds, the laughter of a child or the smile of a stranger. All of these and so much more He offers me as He reaches out to me “that I might know Him”. That I might come to realize him for who he is, that I might see the magnitude of his power, that I might remember just how mighty he is and that he can take each struggle and turn it into a victory . . . “That I May Know Him”!!

“Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him”. Deuteronomy 4:35

Oh that I might know him and remember him for who he is, the Creator of all life, the Master of the Universe. How is it that I so soon forget and lose sight of all the wonders he has brought to pass in my life.

“But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” Galatians 4:9

How soon I forget, how soon I return to that from which he brought me. Oh that I might truly know him !!!

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death” Philippians 3:9-10