There are people
in the religious world with hyper-"faith" who see a demon behind
every negative incident in their life, and who believe they deserve perfect
health, wealth and success.
Many of them are
proud and arrogant and give condescending advice to those of us who live in the
"real" world. These misguided individuals are thrown for a loop when
their prayers do not bear the desired results.
They spend most
of their prayer time quoting scripture at God, and demanding that He fulfill
their expectations, because of the promises contained in the Biblical verses.
As human beings,
the details of our life shape our life's story. We focus on what we perceive as
our treasure (Matthew 6:21). The desire for possessions, financial progress and
popularity often drive our goals and ambition.
The more clutter that
we add to our home, our schedule and our mind, the more hindered we are to
follow hard after God. Sitting down with a journal and emptying our self of all
of this internal and external clutter hampering our life will give us a freedom
that is rare in the hectic world in which we live.
God gives us his
understanding, wisdom and guidance to help us to surrender every area of our
life to Him. He frees us from the encumbrances of clutter, turns our
hopelessness into faith, protects us from Satan's snares, and leads us in His
everlasting way.
If we build our
life on Christ in us and live according to God's precepts, we find a deeper
fulfilment, peace and true joy than anything available to us on this planet
apart from God (John 14:27).
As we walk in the
Spirit, we release our cares, stress and anxiety to our Father who cares for us
(1 Peter 5:7-9). His peace guards our heart and mind in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 4:7). We immerse every decision in prayer and make all of our
requests known to God (Philippians 4:6).
Prayer:
Father God, teach
us to surrender everything in our life to You. Help us to experience Your presence
in us and in our circumstances. You never, ever leave or forsake us (Hebrews
13:5). We trust You to open doors that no one can close; and to shut doors that
will lead us away from Your will for our life.
Thank You for
Your forgiveness of our transgressions. Help us not to succumb to fear and
worry, but to maintain our faith in Your faithfulness. We believe in You, trust
in You and rely on You even for the very air we breathe. We praise You for
turning our sadness into joy and our stress into Your peace.
Thought for the
Day:
No matter where
we are, what we are doing, or what is required of us, God is always there with
us as our Father and Friend, while He turns our hopelessness into faith and
shines His light in our pit of despair.
