Awesome God

In the midst of all the galaxies in our universe, God singled out the planet earth to inhabit with His people. He will bring New Jerusalem, His 1500 mile cubed city, down out of heaven and dwell with us here for eternity (Revelation 21:2).

This city, paved with streets of gold, shows us that what we value more than anything in this world in which we now live will be common place in the city of God (Revelation 21:21; 1 Corinthians 2:9).

We revel in nature as we see it on earth; yet, God will give us a new heaven and earth which resemble Paradise before Adam and Eve fell into sin. This is something else which we cannot imagine.

Even more awesome than any of this, however, is that God gives His Saints the gift of His divine presence abiding in our life now and forever.

There is no longer any separation between God and humanity, because Jesus bridged the gap by His death and resurrection.

He left the glories of heaven to include us in His inheritance of God's Kingdom.

Yet, we take this illustrious fact for granted, and spending time with God is the least of our priorities. We know He will always be there for us, so we only visit Him when we have a problem we cannot handle on our own.

God is jealous for our time and attention (Exodus 34:14). He created us as His own special people. He calls us out of the world to abstain from the evil desires of sin and to seek only His will and way for our life (1 Peter 2:9-12; Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 2:10).

Daily Bible devotion, Christian fellowship, hearing the Word of God preached and singing the high praises of God all bring us into fellowship with God Himself (Psalm 95:2, 100:4; Romans 8:29).

We walk in His presence continually; and even at night, our spirit communes with the Spirit of God as we sleep (Psalm 16:8). We pour out our heart to Him daily; not only with our needs, but primarily with our praises in both good times and bad (Psalm 62:8).

Prayer:

Father God, in Your presence is fullness of joy and in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16:11). There is nothing which we need that You will not provide for us (Matthew 6:33). You have our best interest in Your heart and You love us faithfully. We continually abide in Your love (John 15:9).

Forgive us for foolishly running after the things of this world to improve our station in this fleeting life (James 4:14). We get new homes, cars, clothes, hobbies and expensive toys that take even more of our time away from You.

Yet, You continually call us back to Your presence; to spend more than an hour of devotion, and to abide in You all day and night long. There is nothing worthy of our attention beside You and we desire nothing on earth except Your presence in our life (Psalm 73:23-26).

Thought for the Day:

The Spirit of our awesome God goes with us always and He gives us continual rest for our weary soul. - Exodus 33:14

Renewed Mind - Part 2 - Healing for our Wounded Soul

 

Satan plants lies in our soul throughout the experiences of our life. These misconceptions cause us to over-react irrationally and with intense emotion in our current life situations.

There are personality issues and woundedness in every person’s soul, which may trigger our wounds and hinder us, or our partner, friend or relative from changing or growing spiritually.

We need to see life through their eyes, not only through our own. God will give us His agape love to accept them for exactly who they are. Then we can also pray for them to be all that God wants them to be.

If we put their needs above our own, He gives us the patience to love them through their episodes. We realize that they are reacting from fear and woundedness, which our behavior triggered; and we do not take their rage or sullenness or impatience personally.

We pray for them and love them even more when they are behaving badly than we do when they are rational and kind. They have no idea why they are acting this way, but God does.

All negative behavior is a red flag to alert us of the woundedness in our soul. It may also be a false belief that is now an idol in our soul, because we give our pet peeves and misconceptions too much importance in our life.

We can take these irrational beliefs to God and gain His perspective on them, asking Him to change our focus about them until they lose their importance to us.

During rational moments, when no one is in a hurry or in need of our time, we can offer to pray with our spouse, friend or family member about their negative emotions.

They may be as clueless about their behavior as we are. They can start by journaling what they were thinking during their outburst. What thoughts were going through their mind? What did we do that triggered this reaction in them?

As we pray together, these problems are resolved as God reveals their root and origin, uncovers Satan's lie for us, and then speaks His truth to our soul. ( www.theophostic.com )

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that our soul longs more for a relationship with You than with a person. We often go from one person to another in this life, trying to find our soul mate, or someone to complete us.

Yet, the only way we can feel fulfilled is through deepening our commitment and our relationship with You. This is true even for married people. The more we find acceptance and develop satisfaction in our relationship with You, the more we can serve our mate out of our love for You (Ephesians 5:22, 6:7; Colossians 3:18, 23-24).

Thought for the Day:

Our support and acceptance of our partner’s, friend's or relative's shortcomings will do much to improve our attitude, as well as to improve their behavior through our love and consideration of their needs above our own.

Renewed Mind - Part 1 - A Wounded Soul

We often criticize people who are self-centered or who are touchy, angry or combative. We do not realize that they are simply trying to survive.

They are wounded and attempting to protect their soul from more pain. They will hurt us before we get the chance to hurt them; even if we have no intention nor desire to harm them.

If our words, tone or behavior even hint at aggression, they will attack us with vehemence and even violence. A teenager at the children's home where we lived and worked interpreted my behavior this way.

She ended up pushing me out the van door backwards where I landed on my head on the pavement. I blacked out and revived with dizziness and a pounding headache; so they rushed me to the emergency room.

I survived the ordeal, but I often wonder if she did. They put her in the time-out room and quickly moved her out of our home; so we lost track of her. Her lifetime of abuse caused her to abuse me.

Another reason we over-react is that our soul is governed by sin (Romans 7:20-23). We miss the mark of God's holiness and fall into unregenerate behavior (Romans 8:29). Satan uses this tendency for his purposes.

Our only hope for freedom from emotional wounds and the penchant of our flesh to sin is the saving power of Jesus Christ. His Holy Spirit transforms our spirit and soul through regeneration and sanctification (Titus 3:5). Trust in Him today.

Prayer:

Father God, we look forward to Christ's return when You shall put everything under His feet. He will rule and reign over the earth for eternity from the throne in Jerusalem of His ancestor, King David (2 Samuel 7; Luke 1:32-33, 2:11). Israel will finally rejoice in the coming of their King Jesus (Matthew 24:8; Romans 11:1-2, 26; Isaiah 66:8; Ezekiel 37). 

You will even put Satan away for eternity, wrapped in chains in hell (Revelations 20:2). We look forward to this new age. Peace and prosperity will fill the earth and all nations shall dwell together in unity and righteousness (Micah 4:1-7; Isaiah 42:1-4). There will be no crying there, and all emotional and physical sickness shall be healed (Isaiah 51:11).

Thought for the Day:

Only God can truly restore and comfort our soul (Psalm 23:3; 2 Corinthians 1:3); then He allows us to use this same comfort to help others who are in any affliction (2 Corinthians 1:4-5).