My Soul Waits - Filled with God's Fullness

 

God chose us before the foundation of the world to redeem us, to transform us, to give us His divine nature and to use us in the work of His Kingdom (Ephesians 2:10; 2 Peter 1:4).

We no longer deflect His will with hurried lives and busy days. We grow spiritually and come to the place where we surrender our desires and embrace His heart and mind as our own.

We have a continual conversation with God as we share our heart with Him and listen to His answers and directives for our day. God's presence satisfies our longing and fills our hungry soul (Psalm 107:9).

God redefines our plans and leads us in His Truth and everlasting way. He gives us a new name and nature with a heart of compassion and a willingness to do His will (Psalm 43:3; Revelation 2:12; Colossians 3:12).

Our focus switches from our self and our little place in the cosmos and increases to the world around us and the needs of the people involved in our everyday life.

We relinquish our hurt, bitterness, anger, and pride and walk in forgiveness, love and humility instead. This diminishes Satan's hold on our life and increases our fellowship with our Father.

We empty our soul of the cares of this life, having faith in God's faithfulness to work out every detail for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). He fills us with His fullness and we change the world around us - one person at a time (Ephesians 3:16-19).

Prayer:

Father God, spiritual understanding is ours as we allow Your Spirit to discipline our carnal nature and strengthen our spiritual nature as You fill us with Your faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Help us to totally surrender to Your love and to trust You in the good times and the bad.

We know that only You hold the issues of life and death in Your hands (Psalm 41:13). We so enjoy the immeasurable intimacy which You share with those who love You and who keep Your commandments (John 14:15; Ephesians 3:8). We enjoy our fellowship with You and appreciate the showers of Your blessings on our daily life.

Thought for the Day:

Let us walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing Him in our thoughts, words and deeds, so that we can bear fruit by His Spirit through every good work which we perform; and may we continually increase in our knowledge, understanding and intimacy with God. - Colossians 1:9-10

Pointless Rebellion

Some people refuse to adhere to the traditions of our society (Romans 13: 1-14; Hebrews 13:17). They buck the system and rebel against human and Biblical rules and regulations. Therefore, God cannot bless them (Isaiah 1:20).

These people actually yearn for approval, but since their basics instincts are not well received, they decide to go the other way and live in defiance and revolt in every area of life.

Some even become a thorn in the side of society and often end up in prison. The rebel really wants to comply and gain approval; but since they do not measure up, they grow bitter and hate everyone, even their own self.

God's standards are higher than the system of this world; yet, many of our society's rules are patterned after Biblical truth (1 Peter 2:18-21; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). 

The nonconformist views God and the government as rule-makers, which do not accept or validate who they truly are inside.

If rebels would surrender their lack of self-esteem to God, they would find acceptance in His family. God creates a clean heart in us and renews His Spirit within us (Psalm 51:10).

At some point, we all start to realize the futility of attempting to control our own life. The alternative is to trust in God's plan for us (Ephesians 2:10), and to walk in the Spirit through every issue we face (Galatians 5:15-25).

Even if things do not progress as we think they should, if there is an apparent setback or imperfection in our life, God's love helps us to retain our faith in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, a rebel in this world is also rebelling against You. They want their body, emotions, thoughts and goals to be accepted by those who are supposed to love them, regardless of their behavior.

This attitude stems from pride. You resist the proud, but You exalt the humble (James 4:6). Please teach our rebellious loved ones to call on Your Spirit, to humble their pride, to submit to Your calling on their life and to surrender control of their life over to you.

Thought for the Day:

When we consent to God's will and obey His Word, He proves that He cares for all of our needs. 

- Isaiah 1:19; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22

It's Your Choice

 

Brokenness can either push you toward God or away from Him. If we allow discouragement to cause us to live in bitterness and anger, we will blame God. However, if we realize worldly temptations, sin and the devil cause these negative aspects to occur, then we will surrender to God. What Satan tries to use for our demise, God turns around for our good.

Overwhelming helplessness is a fork in the road. We choose which way we will go. If we decide to hate God, our life only gets worse, nothing works out for us, and in the end, we are hardened and lonely. If we settle into following hard after God, His grace helps us to climb the mountain of our pain into His waiting arms (Psalm 63:8; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Isaiah 40:11). He binds up our wounds and ultimately heals us (Psalm 147:3).

We cannot possibly be in control of every situation in our life; but God is. God had a hedge of protection around His servant Job. Satan believed that Job would curse God; so he got permission to all but destroy him. God knew Job's heart. When Job clung to God through every conceivable trial know to man, God blessed him with more than Satan destroyed (Job 42:10).

When our flesh and heart fail us, God strengthens us. He is our portion - all we need to prosper in this life (Psalm 73:26). There is no need to give in to discouragement or fear, because our God is always with us and holds us in the palm of His hand (Isaiah 41:10). God calls us to come to Him, so that He can give us His rest (Matthew 11:28).

If we yoke up with Christ throughout our life and learn from Him, our soul finds deepening rest. He makes every burden light, because He is on the other side of the yoke with us (Matthew 11:29-30). Jesus gives us His peace, which is more intense than anything this world has to offer. His peace helps us to overcome every fear, and all confusion and distress (John 14:27).

Prayer:
Father God, Your power is perfected in our weaknesses. We can actually glory in our idiosyncrasies and foibles, because then the power of Christ rests on us. Through it all, Your grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9). Remind us to trust in You with every part of our soul - our mind, will and emotions - and not to rely on our human understanding. If we acknowledge You in all of our thoughts, words and deeds, You will encourage and direct us (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

Give your brokenness to God, because He will sustain His righteous Saints and not allow us to be shaken by our circumstances. - Psalm 55:22

The Truth About Anger

Anger is a God-given response to protect us when we feel threatened or insecure. Some people in our life arouse anger in our soul more than others. God advises us to go ahead and be angry, but not to sin in our anger (Ephesians 4:26). Resentment at not being given a choice about what happened in my life turned to anger and bitterness.

Those in authority over me would not listen when I expressed what I wanted and needed, and I felt like I did not matter. I usually kept quiet, rolling with the punches, internalizing my feelings for as long as I could. However, some small slight eventually unleashed all of that pent up emotion.

When I exploded in anger to express my displeasure at what I was being forced to experience, the unsuspecting victim of my outburst looked at me like I had two heads and wondered about my sanity. The eruption was quick. However, my volcanic anger left emotional scars in others, which were as destructive as volcanic lava.

I eventually learned that my pent up anger from unresolved issues in my childhood was added to those current feelings of anger. This caused my emotional outbursts to devastate those around me. My anger over the events of my past increased the expression of my anger over the issues occurring at the moment.

God eventually set me free from the pain of my past by revealing its source. He exposed Satan’s lies, spoken to me during negative experiences, which held me in bondage to fear and insecurity my whole life. Then He revealed His truth to replace those lies. (www.theophostic.com)

Negative emotions are actually red flags. When I first start feeling them, I examine my beliefs and the actions, which cause them. I look for an idol, which God is exposing, or I separate my self-worth from the opinion of others. Now, rather than to allow my negative feelings to pile up inside of me, I quickly repent of my idol or firmly appeal to my authority to consider my feelings.

Prayer:

Father God, You advise us not to allow the issues of this life to trouble our soul. We can bring everything to You and make our requests in prayer. You help us to live in quiet expectation of Your purpose for the trials we experience. Your peace, which transcends all human reasoning, will guard our feelings and thoughts. We lift up our soul to Your safe keeping (Philippians 4:6-7; Psalm 25:1).

Thought for the Day:

Attentiveness to our troubled soul can allow us to find peace in our heart by expressing our feelings before they escalate into anger.

Our True Inheritance

Read: Luke 15:11-32

“In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." - Luke 15:10

The parable of the prodigal son is really a message about our Heavenly Father who watches for our homecoming to Him. He rejoices every time a sinner turns his/her heart to Him and repents (Luke 15:10).

We all know this story. One son rebels against his father’s rules and despised the need to work for his living. In his selfish state of mind, he demanded and squandered his inheritance before his father even died. Yet, upon his repentant return home, he received a party, a ring of authority (like a credit card) and a new robe and shoes from his father.

Now, the second son faithfully served his father with respect and deference, never causing him any heartache or distress. Then, when his errant brother returns home, we detect jealousy and resentfulness in this young man because of his father’s mercy and grace toward his brother. He said, "All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat" (Luke 15:29).

This dear son walked in obedience and service to his father for his whole life. He felt slapped in the face by his father’s apparent disregard for his wayward brother’s reckless behavior. We do this too. We see other people who have more material blessings than we do, and we accuse God of loving them more than He cares for us. The faithful son focused on the meager offering the father gave his rebellious son and forgot the immense treasure that lay in wait for him. We forget too. These people are receiving their meager blessings now, but our immense treasure awaits us in heaven (2 Corinthians 4:7).

The father had to remind his faithful son, "‘My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours’" (Luke 15:31). Everything our Heavenly Father has belongs to us as well. No matter how much or how little of their life a person squanders, when they come to Christ they receive His equal inheritance (Luke 23: 32-43). If this bothers us, we have to go to our Father for an attitude adjustment, just like the jealous son did.

We are joint heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17) and all that is His belongs to us as well. He freely shares his treasure with those in His Body. We too should freely share our treasure – physical, spiritual and emotional – with all of those God places in our life. We reach out to everyone in order to win those that Jesus is calling to Himself.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, only in You do we find the true riches of righteousness, peace and joy (Romans 14:17). You gave us the opportunity to follow You all the days of our life and to reap the benefits of righteous living and the inheritance we share with You from our Heavenly Father. Keep us on the narrow road of Truth. We submit our lives to You and resist the world, our flesh and the devil. Thank You that when we do, Satan must flee from us (James 4:7).

Thought for the Day:

Bitterness and gratefulness cannot coexist, because negative emotions blind us from seeing God’s true gifts in our life.




Thank you, Elisa Hall, for the use of your photo.