Monthly Archives: January 2015

Trying Versus Trusting

by

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

How hard is it to actually do what the Scriptures tell us? Hard right? I believe that the reason it is so difficult and challenging is because we are TRYING in our own strength to do what we think we’re supposed to! “‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6 

Complete dependency on the Lord is what is required of us to do His will.  We were created to be utterly dependent on Him from the moment creation began.  This relationship is beyond mere human understanding: “lean not on your own understanding”…  In order to restore the fellowship that God intends for us we need to truly come to a place of complete submission.

Trusting means allowing God to direct every fibre of your being: “And He shall direct your paths”…  Sometimes our flesh can get in the way of truly following Christ the way we are meant to.  Our flesh can deceive us and make us think that its impossible to follow Christ, and that His teaching is too hard to understand: “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” John 6:60… and many fell away.  This is why we are instructed to “lean not on our own understanding” otherwise in our own human fleshly understanding it would be impossible for us to live an obedient life.

Relying upon ourselves only leads to failure. “Love never fails”… The greatest gift is Love and it is only through Love that we can be more than conquerors. Conquerors over sin!

We will never be perfect as long as we are in these fleshly sinful bodies.  Perfectionism is a sin that causes us to be self-righteous, and self-righteousness will never earn us a place in God’s kingdom.  We are called to be poor in spirit and pure in heart so that we may see God.  How could we ever accomplish this is our own strength or through our own righteousness? It’s impossible! But only with God are all things possible! So it is only through His power, and Spirit that we can enter His Kingdom.

We spend so much time worrying about all the things that need to done in our daily lives that we forget to stop and wait and trust in the Lord.  Maybe you’ve been hurt and you think that your capacity to trust has been broken, or your filled with doubt and insecurities, or you feel worthless and unwanted… If this is your story let God rewrite it and allow Him to lead you into the most beautiful relationship that your heart truly desires.  There is absolutely no substitute for His love!  Nobody will love you entirely and completely like God.

 

Thanksgiving to the Lord for His Great Works of Deliverance

by

Happy New Year!

This is the first official post for 2015!

So much excitement & anticipation for the coming year.  God is doing mighty things in the lives of his children.  I believe that He is just anxious to pour out His blessings on those who are obedient and living in the will of God.  I’m definitely excited and looking forward to the New Year and all that God will do. However while I may be excited and in anticipation of what’s to come, that wasn’t always the case.  For most of my life I was in a state of hopelessness and I just couldn’t see any light, only tunnel.  This post is meant to inspire hope in those who may have lost it or never had it to begin with.  I wish I could share with you exactly where I was before my hope was restored, but that would take an entire book! What I can do is share Scripture with you that describes exactly where I was and how God delivered me from that place of desolation and hopelessness.  I believe that He is waiting to do the same for anyone and everyone who is in need of His great deliverance.  I encourage you to read this passage of Scripture and if you can relate to it, please know that you are not alone and that there is great deliverance for you in the name of Jesus!

Psalm 107

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 And gathered out of the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.

4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;
They found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons—
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces.
15 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron in two.

17 Fools, because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works with rejoicing.

23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into barrenness,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
36 There He makes the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
37 And sow fields and plant vineyards,
That they may yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease.

39 When they are diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt on princes,
And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
41 Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
And makes their families like a flock.
42 The righteous see it and rejoice,
And all iniquity stops its mouth.

43 Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.