God's Perfect Will

Sometimes we actually hate our life. Too many trials and disappointments rip at our heart and smother us with a blanket of insecurity, fear and trouble.

We attempt to control our circumstances, but that is not any easier than grasping for the wind (Ecclesiastes 2:17). It is impossible to do; and therefore, crazy to attempt.

Solomon, the richest and wisest man who ever lived on this earth, realized that he could not buy happiness. He tried to find it by amassing worldly goods, marrying a multitude of wives, and even by worshiping false gods.

Eventually, he applied the wisdom from above to his own life and realized that this world's riches are fleeting at best. Total surrender to God is our only hope of attaining unending joy in this life.

Before He even created the universe, God specifically chose each one of us to walk in holiness according to His will for our individual life and to live for His praise and glory (Ephesians 1:4; Isaiah 43:21).

God created us for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10), not just as a cruel joke or at some random selection. He designed each of us with His perfect will in mind and He attempts to lead us to walk in His ways (Hebrews 13:21).

Too often we take a sidetrack from His intended route and waste valuable time and resources on pursuing our own dreams and goals. We end up spinning our wheels and making our self miserable.

We can walk in lasting happiness only as we follow God's plan for our individual life. It takes time to seek His will for each moment of our day, but the results are totally worth any effort on our part.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to receive what You offer to us rather than trying to manipulate You into giving us what we want. Work in our life to draw us closer to Your heart each day. Create in us a clean heart and renew a Godly spirit within us (Psalm 51:10) until we can truly say with conviction and veracity, "Lord, You are all I need".

Show us the times that we attempt to manipulate You and use You for our own gains. Remind us that You have our best in mind (Jeremiah 29:11). You remove our defenses and affirm Your love for us by Your acceptance of us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). You build us up and meet all of our needs until You remove all doubt from our heart (Colossians 2:7).

Thought for the Day:

Once we decide to totally submit to God's will for us, regardless of where, with whom or how it plays out, we eventually find true contentment and fulfillment in this life.

Forgiveness and Boundaries

Human beings tend to suffer in silence. We fear rejection and criticism, so we internalize our thoughts and feelings rather than confiding in one another.

Inner voices, which do not line up with God's Word, are lies from Satan Himself. The only way to dispel His lies is by hearing and then speaking God's truth (Philippians 4:8; 1 Timothy 4:1).

Once we receive our forgiveness from God through repentance and faith in exchange for our sins, then God receives us as His own precious children (1 John 3:2).

Like Jesus we forgive those who harm us. If they are repentant, we allow them back into our heart. If they refuse to repent, then we forgive them for our sake, but keep them at a distance.

Even though we forgive them, we do not condone their behavior toward us, and we certainly never allow them any opportunities to harm us again.

We derive our self-worth through Christ in us, rather than through our own achievements. This way our esteem does not depend upon people, circumstances or meeting our goals.

It depends on God's faithfulness and the presence of Christ abiding within us. We are secure in who we are through Christ. We live the life to which He calls us (Ephesians 2:10).

This way too, we have no need to attempt to manipulate and control the behavior of others in order to make our self feel better, safer or more secure.

Prayer:

Father God, people do tend to maliciously use us, but You encourage us to love them with Your agape love and to forgive them and pray for them (Matthew 5:44). However, we can also be wise as snakes and gentle as doves in our dealings with them (Matthew 10:16).

We point them to Your love for them, but we never again allow them to take advantage of us or to use us for their evil gain. Their opinion of us does not matter anymore, because our identity and our good name come from You (Proverbs 22:1; Psalm 52:9).

Thought for the Day:

No one is more deceived than the person who will not admit that he or she is wrong; but we can forgive them anyway and erect boundaries to keep them from harming us again.

No Higher Honor

 

Have you ever met a "control freak"? They attempt to subjugate the people and events around them. Some of them desire to wield power. Others are insecure and endeavor to control their environment to ensure their safety. A third type of control freak was oppressed as a child; and, as an adult, vowed never to allow that to happen again.

The greatest problem with control freaks is that they are rebellious to God's authority in their life. They do not seek His will, but they make their own plans and move mountains to attain them. Some of them manipulate, demand, steal and finagle to get their own way. Their motivation is to preserve their concept of their own self-worth, because their value comes from their achievements (Colossians 2:8).

Control freaks actually believe that God let them down; therefore, they must make their own way in life. Satan reinforces this confusion by using commercials, billboards, social media, office politics, family expectations and a host of other worldly standards to force the unwitting to base their value on earthly concepts.

The problem is that even the richest, most powerful, successful and beautiful people in the world never really believe they have attained the pinnacle of acceptance they so crave. The devil convinces them that they are actually unlovable and unacceptable in order to keep them on the rungs of that illusive ladder of success.

They even perceive rejection from others when it is not there. A muddle of inferiority, hopelessness, insignificance and self-criticism overwhelms them. It is only in the very center of God's will that we find our true joy and contentment (Philippians 4:11-13). He redeemed us from our sinful lifestyle and adopted us into His very own family (1 John 3:1). There is no honor in life higher than this.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for creating us with Your purpose in mind (Psalm 139:13; Ephesians 2:10). You gave each of us gifts and talents, which we need in order to accomplish Your will for our life (Romans 12:6). There is no need for us to strive to achieve success that is out of Your will for us. Even when we accomplish our goals, they will ring empty and hollow. Thank You for adopting us as Your children. Help us to find our worth only in our relationship with You.

Thought for the Day:

God's Biblical principles are our standard and give us wisdom for living; apart from Him we are nothing. - John 15:5

Consulting the Lord

Joshua took over the leadership of Israel from Moses. He followed in Moses’ footsteps and sought God's direction for each decision he made and every action he took. He had no confidence in his own ability and He generally relied on God’s counsel. 

God promised to give Joshua every part of the land where he set his feet. God also declared that no army would stand against him (Joshua 1:3,5). Therefore, with a few successful battles to his credit, Joshua’s fame traveled throughout Canaan (Joshua 6:27).

This caused his heart to swell with pride, and He got overly confident. He started believing the praise awarded to him, rather than giving credit to the Lord. The unconventional warfare God told Joshua to use at Jericho (Joshua 6:20) puffed up his confidence. Therefore, at the next battle, in the tiny town of Ai, Joshua did not bother to consult the Lord.

He relied on his own wisdom instead. He sent up an army of about three thousand men, expecting to hear of their anticipated victory. However, God taught Joshua a lesson through this and allowed the few men of Ai to defeat Joshua’s army (Joshua 7:3-4). 

God humbled Joshua, and he ended up embarrassed and dejected. It happened again when the Gibeonite ambassadors tricked Joshua by their deceptive words (Joshua 9:14-22). Joshua foolishly believed he could handle these decisions without the Lord’s direction. 

We do this too. We forget to pray and to seek God's counsel when salesmen pressure us, friends and family manipulate us and those in authority over us demand things from us. True success in life only comes when we seek advice from the Lord before making a decision, and follow His advice even if it is not popular or seems not to make sense. Hindsight proves that God is right.

Prayer:

Father God, as Your children, we will need to make some important decisions throughout our lifetime. We have the choice of following a humanistic plan of action or of seeking Your divine direction. Remind us to trust in You with all of our heart and not to lean on our own understanding. 

Help us not to be wise in our own eyes, but to consult You (Proverbs 3:5-7). That way we will not be anxious about anything, but we will pray about everything and present our requests to You (Philippians 4:6). When we lack wisdom, we can ask You, because You give it generously to all without finding fault (James 1:5).

Thought for the Day:

Consult the Lord in whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

- Proverbs 16:3