Where and in whom does your hope lie today? Do you trust only yourself and your sheer determination to make your dreams reality? Or maybe you trust the world around you to give you everything you desire. Unfortunately, there is no one or thing here on earth that has the ability to deliver you from damnation… for there is only one person that can give you victory over guilt and eternal punishment of your sins. Jesus is that only person that can save your soul.
Tag: thanking god
Proverbs 13:10 ” Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.”
Arrogance and conceit can only bring out the worst in people. A prideful spirit will tell you that you’re better than everyone else and can do as you wish, but this only leads to problems when you come across someone with that same attitude! This Proverb advises instead that we take our practical spirituality and accept counsel from others.
II Corinthians 4: 1-2 ” Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.”
In a Believer’s life I think there isn’t anything potentially more volatile than secret sins. Hidden sins will lead us to compromise and dilute the truth in our own mind…rationalizing things until we can live with ourselves. They cause us to hide things out of shameful awareness and dispair…which spirals us down the slippery slope into depression. Secret sins need to be dealt with…not left to simmer and develop into more. Besides, you’re only fooling yourself if you think that hidden sins are really hidden.
Jeremiah 23: 23-24 ” ‘ Am I only a God nearby?’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I can not see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.”
God is omnipresent…present everywhere at the same time, which is extremely difficult for the human brain to wrap itself around. We would like to put God in a nice simple box, but He can’t be contained…His power and majesty unable to be held within the boundaries. So attempting to escape the Lord is futile…there is simply no hiding place that the Lord can’t find you. You may run, but you can’t hide. The Lord will pursue you to the ends of the earth until you finally turn to Him…so why not do it today? Really, aren’t you tired of running?
Ezekiel 37:3 ” He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ “
The Lord had brought Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and asked him this question. The only appropriate answer Ezekiel could give is, “O Lord God, You know.” Rather running ahead of God “doing something”, Ezekiel was waiting on the Lord’s direction and working within His Will. Many times it’s so much easier to “do something” rather than to just trust in the Lord and wait on His timetable. What we see as good works and “helping” God is more panic than inspiration.
Exodus 2:11 ” …when Moses was grown…he went out to his own people and looked at their hard labor.”
Moses saw the oppression of his fellow Hebrews, and in that righteous indignation attempted to right the wrong…under his own power, in all the wrong ways. What followed was discouragement and 40 years in the desert with God teaching Moses how to go about setting His people free – the Lord’s way. Like Moses, we may have a vision, and maybe even a clear understanding of what God wants…but we’re not ready yet. We may also need our “40 years” in the desert being discipled by the Lord until He feels we are prepared to do His work.
Matthew 9:38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”
Send us O Lord. We are a complacent people, giving in to our comfort and self. We are filled with excuses and justification of why we can’t obey Your Word when You say “Go!” Show us Lord the way…direct our paths for Your glory…drive us out of the four walls of the Church into Your Church – the world. Give us Your passion for the lost…Your fire for the perishing. Send us O Lord.
Colossians 2:2 ” My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God…”
Unite us O Lord. Join us together as one Nation, one World. Let us stand together , oblivious to color, race or religious background. Lord help us to lock arms together for the good of all, and in one voice, declare that you are God. Unite us O Lord.
Psalm 44: 6-7 ” I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory; but You give us victory over our enemies, You put our adversaries to shame.”
We can’t put our trust in others. Our security can’t be found in our shrewdness or the most noblest of acts. For the confident expectation we seek can only be found in God. Zechariah 4:6 states, ” Not by might nor power, but by My spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Our victory can only be in and by the Lord.
Lamentations 3: 55-57 ” I called on Your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called You, and You said, ‘Do not fear.’ “
The Hebrews conceived of death as a giant pit. And when we’re in the darkest deeps of that pit mentality and emotionally…when depression and disappointment have taken over our lives, we have only one thing we can do. Out of the very depths of that hole we must cry out to the Lord… for He will hear us, listen to our pleas, and bring peace as only He can.