The Greatest Measure of God's Presence

 

We can never go anywhere that the love of God cannot find us (Psalm 139:7-12). He wants nothing more than to spend time fellowshipping with us, and filling us with the greatest measure of His presence (Ephesians 3:16-19).

In our busiest or calmest day, He is always within us, desiring to lead us by His Spirit and to direct us to do His will. Yet, in the hustle and bustle of life we often forget He is there.

We proceed through our day relying on our self-effort and human reasoning, making our own plans without consulting Him first and carrying them out with varying degrees of success.

We continue through life like this, enjoying the simple pleasures and the fruit of our labor, forgetting that God has specific work for us to accomplish for His purpose (Ephesians 2:10).

Then, we hit a brick wall and get the wind knocked right out of us. We make accusations against God, calling Him unfair, unjust and unloving.

We may even walk away from God with anger in our heart. We do not realize that we are either reaping the result of our own choices or we are experiencing the effects of Satan's lordship and sin's power in the earth.

When we walk away from God, we compound our problems. We abandon our best friend, our most faithful ally and our loving Father who loves to bless His children.

God is still waiting for us right where we left Him. He is calling us to Himself and wanting to cherish us and direct us in His will and purpose for our life.

Prayer:

Father God, when will we ever learn? Since you created us, mankind continually walks away from You. Even with Your Spirit abiding within us, we ignore You and do our own thing, making trouble for our self and living as a poor example of Your child.

You are our loving Creator, Father, Provider and Protector. Surround us with Your love and fill us with Your peace and joy. Submitting our life to You as our sovereign Lord, we appreciate that You are just and righteous in all of Your ways. Teach us to dedicate every moment of our day to loving You in ceaseless praise.

Thought for the Day:

Our walk with the Lord starts at the cross and continues by living in the center of God's will, which is the happiest place on earth.

My Soul Waits - A Frank Conversation

Negative, shaming self-talk comes from Satan in order to discourage us from allowing God to use us to His full potential within us. It diminishes our ability to receive the flow of God's love to us.

We feel like crawling into a closet or curling into a tiny ball and hiding from the world. We cannot even look at our self in the mirror.

Our judgmental, critical, shaming and censoring thoughts about our self and others cripples us and deflects the immensity of the Truth of God's unconditional love and acceptance for us.

We do not sense God's faith, hope and love within us in the person of Jesus Christ. We are unable to detect His will through our hurried lives and busy days.

We have to get off the merry-go-round of life and have a frank conversation with God. As we share our heart with Him, we empty our soul of the cares of this life and our deep seated insecurities.

Meditating on God's Word throughout the day helps us to focus on Him and His will for our life. This trains our soul to think on heavenly things rather than being carnally minded.

In the silent times of waiting on God, we enjoy His companionable silence as He showers us with His love, fills us with His peace and gives us His joy as our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

He gets us ready for the next trial or temptation or crisis which we will face by strengthening us from the inside out. He showers us with His blessings and love to re-enforce our spirit and prepare us for the battle ahead.

Prayer:

Father God, You have a distinct purpose for each person You created. You sent Your Son to redeem us and Your Spirit to direct us throughout our lifetime. Make us aware of Your presence during the quiet times we maintain throughout our day.

Remind us to listen to Your voice, rather than the satanic voices in our mind. Draw us closer to You. We thank You for never letting us go (Hebrews 13:5). Work in us the divine nature of Christ (2 Peter 1:4), and fulfill in us and through us all of your promises.

Thought for the Day:

God has a perfect, prearranged plan for our life; and as we walk in it, we find His presence along with fulfillment and holiness. - John 17:17-18; Ephesians 2:10

God's Wisdom

In this dark and fearful world it is so hard not to hyperventilate, not to allow our mind to fry with evil possibilities happening to us or our loved ones, and not to allow Satan to overwhelm us with his lies.

One way to escape the penchant we have as humans to think of the worst case scenarios is to live in the moment. This keeps our heart and mind free from worry for our safety and provision.

If we are fine in this one moment of time, we need not worry about the next moment. If we are not fine, we can seek God's wisdom about how to deal with the negative aspects of this one moment of time (James 1:5).

When we acknowledge God first, we abide in His peace as He directs our steps (Proverbs 3:5-6). God promises that in this world we will have tribulation; but we can face it with joy, because He already overcame the world and He lives within us (John 16:33; 1 Peter 1:6).

This way Satan, the world and our human tendencies of the flesh do not control our life through desires, insecurities, anxiety and concerns; but we are submitted and totally surrendered to Christ in us.

As branches on the Vine, we receive the supply of all of our needs, and we depend upon His strength to keep us stable and productive during the storms of life (John 15:5).

As we keep our mind focused on Him, He floods each day with His peace and joy, regardless of any turmoil or suffering we experience (Isaiah 26:3). We know that everything He allows in our life is for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

The fruit of God's Spirit, the very nature of God Himself, branch out from us in all directions (Galatians 5:22-23). Our nurture and provision come from God alone, regardless of our vocation or situation in life (Roman 8:28).

Prayer:

Father God, we cast all of our cares onto Your strong shoulders, because we know from experience that You care about us (1 Peter 5:7). Sometimes, circumstances make us feel that You do not care, or that You abandoned us, but often we are causing our own grief by our choices. 

We fail to consult You or to walk in Your Spirit, and we reap the consequences of our codependency and faulty thinking. Remind us to keep track of all the times You answered our prayers. Rather than to take You and Your goodness for granted, we want to give You continual praise for all that You do for us each day. 

Help us not to get distracted by our busy life and our failure to keep our focus on You, so that we overlook the "hugs" You provide for us throughout the day.

Thought for the Day:

God's wisdom from above is unpolluted by the world, agreeable, sympathetic, pleasant, full of compassion and fruitful, unbiased and genuine. - James 3:17