God's Word encourages us to praise the name of the Lord, praise,
which is due to Him. He created us to give Him praise each moment of our life. He
has supernatural splendor, which is high above the standards of the world
(Psalm 148:13).
Our life on this earth is not about us, not about
amassing worldly goods, or rising to a standard of success that the world deems
appropriate.
Our life here on earth is all about God's purpose for us:
to further His Kingdom in the earth. When we change our focus to God's will for
us, it also changes our attitude, negative emotions and physical, mental and
emotional exhaustion.
We find our true rest in God alone. He restores our soul.
He provides us with hope in this dry and thirsty land in which we live. He
supplies us with eternal salvation, and our survival and identity depend on Him
(Psalm 23:1-4, 62:5-6).
This salvation in not some future event, but starts the
moment of our humble prayer as we repent of our sins that caused Jesus'
crucifixion and death, and call out to Him as we surrender our will to His.
We no longer focus on praying for our desires, but on
ascertaining the desires of the Lord for our life (Haggai 1:4). We offer our
self as a willing vessel for Him to use as He sees fit in whatever geographical
place or economic and standard of living that He provides for us (2 Timothy
2:19-21).
God alone is our rock, our sword and our shield. He is
our fortress in times of trouble, our stronghold in which we shall never be
shaken or overcome. We can trust in Him at all times and share with Him our
cares and concerns, because He truly cares for us (Psalm 62:7-8; Hebrews 13:5;
I Peter 5:7-9).
Prayer:
Father God, help us to see that, unless our choices cause
unpleasant consequences, everything that happens to us is part of Your plan,
and that You plant a seed for a miracle in every trial that we experience. We
can rejoice and feel joy even in the most dire of circumstances because we
trust in Your goodness and grace.
We have no concept of how our life can help increase Your
Kingdom until we fully surrender our self to You and watch as You use us in so
many ways that we never thought possible. Through each trial, our intimacy with
You, our spiritual discernment and our ability to hear the voice of Your Spirit
leading us, grows from one stage of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).
Thought for the Day:
Though we may not fully understand God's ways, we can
faithfully walk in His will, trust totally in Him, and stop depending our human
reasoning, so that He can keep us in the center of His will as the apple of His
eye.
- Proverbs 3:5-6; Zachariah 2:8
- Proverbs 3:5-6; Zachariah 2:8
