Our Personal Story

From the moment of our conception, a multitude of experiences influence the story of our life. Our significant others, birth order, nurture and nature all play a part in how we view our self as we mature. 

In every traumatic circumstance, Satan plants his lies, which weaken our concept of who we are and what we are meant to do as adults. He cripples us with self-doubt, fears and insecurities. 

Negative issues, spoiled plans or broken relationships color our view of life and may give us a pessimistic attitude, as well as unrestrained or reclusive behavior. 

In adulthood, we rely on the stories we built up in our mind about our self, more than we rely on the story, which God wrote for our life before we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10; Psalm 139:13). 

We can change our life by living God's story for us, rather than one of our own making. In God's story for us, His presence gives us hope (Colossians 1:27), and His Spirit guides us each moment of our day (John 16:7, 14:26; Acts 1:5). 

As we walk in the Spirit, we do not follow rules, ritualism or regulations, we live in a reciprocal relationship with God and obey His Word and Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25; John 14:15). 

We cooperate as the Holy Spirit replaces our old, carnal nature with His fruit; and we learn to depend more on God than the stock market, our employer or the sales at the supermarket (Galatians 5:22-23; Proverbs 3:5-6). 

We experience one divine appointment after another, even if we do not realize it. God uses our smile, a kind word, a helping hand, a bouquet of flowers or an interested question to change another person's life.

We are just the nudge they needed to change their mind and question their plans. We will never know until eternity how God uses us through each moment of our life. 

Prayer: Father God, thank You for our salvation through Christ's sacrifice on Calvary's cross. We appreciate Your plans for our life, and we want to live by Your Spirit each moment of our day. 

Remind us not to depend on our self or to make our plans, but to depend on You and to decrease so that You can increase within us (John 3:30). 

Heal us from the lies, which the devil uses to control our thoughts, words and deeds. Help us to walk in Your Truth and to live out Your story for our individual lives as members of Your Body, Your Bride and Your Church. 

Thought for the Day: 
When life goes our way, we tend to rely less on God and more on our self, coasting in our prayer life, neglecting Bible study and missing worship services with fellow Believers; until the next trauma or catastrophe sends us running back into God's waiting arms.

Why God?

Read: Jeremiah 32:37-38

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

Have you ever questioned God’s behavior, promises or direction? You are not alone. Everybody does it. For instance, Jeremiah questioned God's reasoning in Jeremiah 32:24,25: "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city? Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, You say to me, 'Buy the field'".  

Jeremiah’s puzzled prayer received an answer from God, but it did not make any more sense than God’s directive to purchase the field. The enemy was about to overrun the city of Jerusalem, and all God said was, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

It turns out that God, in His foresight, wanted to use this piece of land as an object lesson for Israel. It was an earnest of their future inheritance. It was a symbol of God’s promise to their forefathers that Israel would always be God’s people and He would always be their God (Jeremiah 32:37-38). The purchase loudly proclaimed to Israel that God would eventually bring them back to dwell in safety in the Promised Land once again.

So often we have trouble seeing the big picture. From our perspective, the oddly shaped piece that God provides does not fit into the puzzle of our life in any way. He gives us a directive or opens a door or leads us down a road that just does not make any sense to us. We end up arguing, pleading and cajoling with Him.

When that does not work, we shift into a passive aggressive mode – pretending to obey, when we actually have absolutely no intention of carrying out what we view as an incomprehensible move.

Then, we go off and try unsuccessfully to solve the problem on our own. After hitting the brick wall a few times, we eventually give in and obey; although, we continue to wait impatiently for the desired results. We pace, we fret and we battle with growing anxiety, until we sit back and pray out of frustration, finally relying on God to reveal the purpose of His plan in His timing. While trust God during these puzzling times in our lives, our spiritual growth increases and our closeness with Jesus, our Bridegroom, improves.

When I compare Jeremiah with Jonah, I see the difference between obedience and doing things my own way. From now on, I vow to obey rather than to argue when I do not understand. I will take a lesson from Jonah’s negative behavior, and I will save myself a great deal of trouble!

Prayer:
Lord God, we often have difficulty comprehending how all of the pieces of your plan will work together for our good. Even if we follow your direction, we often unsuccessfully understand Your purpose - especially when things fall apart before they get better. We tend to rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Help us to patiently trust You; because, after all, You are God! 

Thought for the Day:

Life operates more smoothly when we remember that God does all things beautifully in His time.