Created for God

Did you ever wonder why the earth's axis holds its exact degree of slant and stays in its exact obit? If it did not do this, we would all be frozen or burned up.

It is only due to God's great love and compassion that we are not consumed. His care for us never fails. It is new every single morning because God is faithful. This fact gives us unending hope.

The Lord is our provider as we wait upon Him. He is good to those who quietly hope in Him and concentrate the largest portion of our energy on seeking Him and the fullness of His salvation (Lamentations 3:21-26).

At times, we feel like the Lord does not really care about us. That is only because we have unrealistic expectations of Him that are not part of His will for our life.

We treat Him like a genie in a bottle created to grant our wishes, rather than as our Lord and King who created us to do His will with our life.

If we align our will with His, we are never disappointed in the answers to our prayers, because we pray in the Spirit rather than in our flesh.

We are taught by false prophets to claim Biblical promises, as if this puts God under obligation to us to do our will. He provides His promises to encourage us, not to give us some weapon to use against Him; which by the way, does not work and just leaves us frustrated.

God never changes. His mercy never fails us. His goodness is everlasting. His love is eternal. He is under no obligation to grant our wishes or to do our bidding. Instead, He requires that we lay down our life every day, take up His cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24; Numbers 23:19; Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17).

Prayer:
Father God we often weave a tangled web with the circumstances of our life and then expect You to get us out of the mess we made. When we live in the center of Your will, Christ strengthens us to accomplish everything which You call us to do. You make us more than conquerors over the issues of life which You allow us to encounter, not over the jumble we create by our self-centered pursuit of this world.

In You we find peace, joy and boldness to walk in Your ways, which are so superior to our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). Remind us that at the moment of salvation You move into our life, abiding there and desiring for us to get out of the way and to allow You to use us to accomplish all that You created us to do.

Thought for the Day:

As we live fully in each present moment, with no expectations or goals of our own, we can more easily follow the leading of God's Spirit and walk in the center of His will; we hope in God alone, instead of hoping that He meets what we think are our needs.

Be Stll and Know

 

The hardest practice for modern humans to develop is to sit still! In the old days, once the chores were done, families sat around the porch and talked, sang, played board games and told stories.

We have no time for that anymore. We are overly scheduled with activities that will not matter in eternity. God tells us to be still and to know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). Yet, we rarely take the time to obey.

If we will abide in God's presence, He floods our spirit and soul with His attributes and the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). He is under no obligation to give us what we want, but He loves to bless His Saints (Psalm 35:27).

We all have faith in something or someone, even if it is not in God. Our Christian faith inspires our obedience to God's Word and Spirit. The Old Testament, written by the prophets through God's inspiration, teaches us what faith is really all about (Romans 16:26).

If we think, speak or act without faith, we sin (Romans 14:23). Yet, when we live in faith, we are blessed and our conscience does not condemn us (Romans 14:22).

Faith does not depend on emotions or facts. Our faith is renewed and strengthened by hearing the preaching of God's Word (Romans 10:17). This causes us to hunger and thirst for more of God (Psalm 42:1-2, 107:9).

As we still our body and soul, we find our fulfillment in Him alone (Colossians 1:27, 2:10). We have the fullness of Christ in us, just as He had the fullness of our Father in Him (Romans 8:9; Galatians 4:6).

Prayer:

Father God, remind us to live in total surrender to Your Spirit within us, living by faith in Your faithfulness and in obedience to Your Word. You heal our body and soul as we dwell in Your presence. You renew our mind and we lose interest in the things of the flesh, the world and the devil. We find our true contentment and rest only in You.

Thank You for giving us the confidence to come to Your throne of grace anytime for any reason (Ephesians 3:12). Thank You for dwelling in our heart and rooting us and grounding us in Your love (Ephesians 3:17). Teach us to sit still in Your presence and to realize that You are God and no one is above You (Isaiah 45:5).

Thought for the Day:

We calm and quiet our soul like a child within us; in God alone will our soul hope as we wait in silence before Him.

- Psalm 62:5, 131:2