Yet I want Your will to be done, not mine!

Jesus knew what was ahead of Him, and He knew the reason, even so the struggle was intense, more wrenching than any struggle we will ever face. We need to say we want your will to be done. It takes firm trust in God’s plan, and prayer and obedience each step of the way. God desires that we pray that HIS will be done in our life. When we change our focus from our will to HIS will, then we put ourselves into the position that we can do great things for HIM. It is hard to be patient for the perfect timing of God, but if we change our focus from living our lives for ourselves, we will soon learn the true meaning of life. It is not what we can do in our own strength, but we have just learned to live when we can say to God, “Your will be done”!

“He went a little further, and bowed with his face to the ground praying, My Father! If it be possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” ~Matthew 26:39.

Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, one night before HE fulfills God’s purpose for HIS life. Jesus was perfect and never sinned and HE was to be the perfect sacrifice so that we might have fellowship with the Father once again. Jesus knew HE was facing a huge trial. However, Jesus knew that this was HIS purpose in life and as such, HE was focused upon finish that which HE was called to do. Just as we have been promised that God will not bring a trial into our life that we are not able to handle, so also, Jesus was not facing a trial that God had not first given HIM the strength in which to complete.

This was not an easy day for the Son of God. However, HIS response to this trial should be an inspiration to all of us to keep our focus upon fulfilling God’s purpose for our life. Sometimes, in order to fulfill God’s purpose for our life, terrible things will happen to us. Stephen became a martyr so that the good news might spread. A man was born blind so that Jesus could heal him and God could receive the glory. Sarah was barren so that everyone would know that when it is time for God’s perfect will to be done, it does not matter how impossible the situation is, God can bring it to pass.

There are going to be times in our life when our trial sees too great for us. Jesus’ response to HIS trial should be on the forefront of our mind as we face difficult times. Our focus should not be upon ourselves and what we think we can do. Instead, we need to boldly pray, your will be done.

It seems like everyday I hear from someone who was going through a difficult time. and most the time they ask why this difficult thing was happening to them. They are frustrated with their circumstances. I also remind them that God had a purpose for the trial that they are facing. Some will tell me this particular trial they are going through has been going on for years, and I tell them it probably will keep on going until you learn the purpose of why God was allowing this trial to happen.

We do not run until we learn to walk. We do not walk until we learn to crawl. We do not crawl until we learn to roll around. So likewise, in our spiritual walk, God brings trials into our lives to help us grow closer to HIM. Until we learn to overcome the trials that are in front of us, we will never be ready to continue to grow in our walk with the Lord.

We often try to push things forward faster than they need to go because we do not fully understand God’s will for our life. It is important that we spend time seeking the Lord trying to understand what HIS will is so that we do not become impatient when things are not going according to our plans. We need to understand that is not about our plans and our agendas but that the most important thing we can do is submit to the perfect will of God.

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Waiting on God is never easy!

How often do we want to move to the next thing in our life? However, God’s ways are not our ways. God desires that we add patience to our life. God speaks to us and gives us hope and that hope is what enables us to wait on the Lord. He does not want just our minds to wait upon HIM but also our souls. We must lay down our own ambitions in order to receive the promises of God.

“I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope.” ~ Psalm 130:5

When we don’t see God intervening to fix our problems or answer our prayers in a timely manner, we begin to wonder if He is just too busy. We wonder if He is ‘overbooked’, with too many people with bigger, more important problems. We begin to wonder if maybe He cares about other people more than us, because it appears He is answering their prayers before ours, and that doesn’t seem fair. We begin to wonder if God is even in, because if He were, wouldn’t we have seen a glimpse of Him by now? We may even begin to wonder if we should try to handle or fix the problems on our own.

Unfortunately this game of idle spiritual waiting can lead to a lot of wondering. Wondering that can lead us away from God, as we focus on our expectations of timeliness, instead of His implementation of perfect timing. Waiting is simply not something any of us want, or like, to do. In fact, our minds are not even programmed to wait on anything anymore, due to living in this land of immediate gratification

Living in this age of instant gratification makes waiting on anything hard to do – especially waiting on God. As we pace around in God’s waiting room, waiting on Him to call our name, we can easily become frustrated with His perceived inactivity and silence, and His seemingly unhurried pace.

Maybe you find yourself in Gods waiting room today. Maybe it is a new place for you, or maybe it is a room you have spent a lot of time in, just waiting. Waiting to see the One who has the authority and the power to fix your problems, grant your wishes, answer your prayers, heal your hurts, ease your heartaches, fill you with peace and make your dreams come true. And that waiting – is hard – yet, during the wait, we can choose whether our minds wander to a happy place, or an ugly place. We can choose to wonder about Gods will and His timing, or we can choose to wonder whether or not His will and His timing matters. We can choose to wonder about how we can stand strong in our faith, or we can choose to wonder if faith is all its cracked up to be. We can choose to wonder about which verses in God’s Word may apply to our situation, or we can choose to wonder if Gods Word is really applicable anymore. We can choose to wonder about how God is going to act, or we can choose to wonder about whether or not He will act at all.

Waiting is not a matter of time, it is a matter of faith and trust. It is an opportunity for us to lay everything at the foot of the cross, and trust God, or to turn our backs on Him and walk away, assuming that since we do not see Him working, He is not really there.

Waiting is at the core of the Christian life, as we expectantly wait to see how He will carry out His will in our lives. It can be an opportunity to build our faith, trust and hope in Him, as we obey His commandment to wait on His timing, and His will for our lives.

Waiting requires trusting that God knows, even when we are feeling impatient. Are you in Gods waiting room today? If so, let your mind wander…..about the hope that can be found through Him; the trust that you can place in Him because He holds the answers to all things; the peace that surpasses understanding; the excitement that you will feel once you can see how God has been sitting right beside you in the waiting room all along; and most importantly, to the perfect timing of His answer when it does finally come.

Faith is built upon trust!

The beginning point of faith, is believing in God’s character. He is who He says. The end point is believing in God’s promises. He will do what He says. When we believe that God will fulfill His promises even those we don’t see those materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith. In order to experience the power of God, we have to be willing to step out in faith, even when it seems there is no way and no solution to the problem at hand and our strength is gone. God will strengthen us as we go. He is the Way Maker and the only thing that really matters is the fact that God sends us. 

“Faith is the confidence  that what we hope for will actually happen., it gives us assurance  about things we can not see.”~  Hebrews 11:1

 

A powerful life is fueled by the kind of faith that steps out in obedience and lets God worry about whether or not we come back. At the center of every challenge is an opportunity for trust in God to work.  Every problem contains a concentrated opportunity and offers the option of stepping out in faith. 

 

Faith is built upon trust. God wants us to trust Him – even when we do not understand what is happening or can explain the circumstances. Even when nothing makes sense and everything seems wrong. It is easy to trust Him when the seas are calm and the skies are clear but the strength of our faith is measured in the midst of a raging storm. A crisis always reveals what is really inside. What life does to us depends on what life finds in us. Faith is a deliberate choice to believe God, to walk through our fear, knowing we can trust Him every step of the way.

 

Can I Trust God?

The Psalmist says “Lord, you are all powerful and completely trustworthy.” Having a hard time trusting God? Take a look at history. Everything your heavenly Father has ever promised has come to pass, just as he said it would. Even during those times when you didn’t understand His working and the things He has allowed to come into your life, His actions have been for your good to grow you and protect you and bring you closer to Him.

“Lord God All-Powerful, who is like you? Lord, you are powerful and completely trustworthy.” Psalm 89:8

Ask yourself this hard question. “Is He worth the risk?” One time in Jesus life many of his followers became disillusioned and left Him. Jesus turned to his disciples and said “Are you going to leave too?” To that question Peter said “Lord, where else is there to go? Who else gives us the things you have given us?” When we look at God’s working in the past; when we honestly evaluate his present work in our lives; I believe there is only one answer. Trusting God is worth the risk. He’s proven himself time and again and even during those times I don’t understand His actions, I have to admit there is no one else I can turn to. One last thing. Turn the tables for a moment. Imagine God asking the ‘trust questions’ about you. Have you been consistent in your history or do you constantly fail? Have you made promises you couldn’t keep or had no intention of keeping? Do your actions match your words? If you were God would you be ‘worth the risk?’ Jesus says, “Yes. You are worth the risk. You failed. You are failing. You will fail in the future. But you are worth the risk of my love.” And he proved his love for you by dying on the cross to forgive your sins.

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

We must keep our eyes on Christ, our ultimate leader. Christ has been and will be the same forever, in a changing world we can trust our unchanging Lord. I know God is God, and He always will be God.’ We often try to dis-engage ourselves from the spiritual way of thinking – seriously! We tend to think the way man thinks; after all, we are still in the flesh. The Spirit within us keeps prodding our minds, wanting us to relinquish our whole being to the Lord. But, we keep overriding the Holy Spirit and go on our merry way. And, we get in trouble!

 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.”~~Hebrews 13:8


The enemy would have us think that we don’t need God, that we can do anything on our own. And, some believe his lies. We have to guard against the enemies words by keeping the Word of God closely in our hearts. God is always God, but, we sometimes get complacent in our spiritual lives. This is when the enemy steps in, gets your mind all muddled up with the world’s way of thinking, and you find yourself headed down the wrong path, and don’t know how you got there.

God never changes. He has always has been, is, and always will be the same. It’s us that change. We go on, day to day, either walking with the Lord, or going on our separate ways. We don’t realize we’ve separated ourselves from God, until we come across a problem that’s too hard for us to handle. We need help, so we turn to God. He’s there waiting for His children to come to Him, to sit at His feet, and learn of His ways. When He chastises His children, it’s because He loves us. He has always wanted the best for His children, from the time of Adam and Eve in the garden, until today. He never changes!

If you’ve become complacent, found yourself not growing, or perhaps completely separated from God, why not call His name? He is the same, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He loves you as He did the first day you called upon Him to save your soul. He wants to be FATHER in every facet of your life. He can give you the peace you long for, and the love you may never have had. No matter how much you change, God is always the same. He LOVES you!

 

Have a wonderful Christ-centered day.

 

When our Faith Wavers!

If we believe that God is who He says He is and will do what He has promised, why do so many of us habitually waver in our prayers? Instead of exercising bold faith, we come to the Lord “hoping” He will hear us and answer our requests, but we’re just not sure He will. With this kind of thinking, we cannot expect to receive anything from Him.

 ^“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” ~~James 1:5-8

One reason we are so prone to doubt is that we fail to see God at work in our circumstances. We asked, and nothing happened. But the Lord is not some cosmic bellhop who jumps in response to our requests. He sees past, present, and future and knows the right time for every answer. His invisible hand is already at work on our behalf—arranging situations to accomplish His will, opening hearts, and preparing us to receive what He wants to give. Another cause for uncertainty is ignorance. If we don’t know God’s ways, we will be disappointed in His response. All too often our prayers are accompanied by expectations of how He will work. When He fails to intervene according to our timetable or anticipated method, we start to doubt. But placing our faith in the Lord and trusting in His good and perfect ways gives us stability as we wait for His answer.

To overcome doubts, spend time in the Word to learn God’s principles and ways. Then you’ll begin to grasp what He wants to achieve in your life and how He goes about it. Examine your past from a biblical perspective—faith will grow as you see the unexpected ways He answered your prayers.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord’s presence.

 

“I know the Lord is always with me.”

It is such a wonderful Psalm of encouragement to the Christian and it’s a great prayer to God. We all have a tendency to dominate our thoughts with ourselves. How much better if our speech and thoughts were filled with faith and praise to Christ. We look to Christ as our Lord, our portion of our inheritance, the One who maintains our lot, Who gives us counsel, and Who is always at our right hand. Have a wonderful day know that God is always with you. 

 

 “I will bless the Lord who guides me, even at night my heart instructs me, I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken for he is right with me.” ~~Psalm 16:7-8

 

There is one prayer that we should read every day and it will make all the difference in your life. It is a form of discipline, for if we don’t pray this prayer we wont keep our Spiritual vitality. The prayer is simple and yet powerful. It is, “I know the Lord is always with me.” Knowing  that God’s is always with us will make all the difference in the world. Because David was conscious of the fact that God was always with him, right beside him, he was not shaken during life’s struggles. Instead God guided him and instructed his heart at night.

 


How about you? What if today we were conscious of God right next to you? What if you knew that He was in the same room you were? What if you sensed that He heard your thoughts and prayers and would to answer the questions you have? What if you experienced His comforting presence when you are under pressure? What if you knew He was present to hold your hand when you had that extremely difficult task to do? God is. God is always with us. Let us be conscious of His presence in all that we do today.

 

Dear God, thank you for being with us constantly. Please make us aware of your presence today. Help us to see how relevant you are to our lives Help us experience your presence, to really know that you are always with us, in fact right beside us. Father, open our eyes to see you, our ears to hear you and our heart to sense your very presence.
In Jesus name. AMEN

Are you Feeling Forgotten by God?

Are you going through difficult circumstances? Where you feel with each breath that God appears to far away from you, where you prayed, but God was seem silent. Where you emotions were getting the best for you and Instead of God’s kindness and love, loneliness and abandonment seemed to take over. In your head you know that is isn’t true, but that’s how you feel.

“Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?” ~~ Psalm 77:7-9

As we read these passages it seems the Psalmist was at the end of his rope, pleading for God’s deliverance from hardship. He expressed his feelings, and asked why God had rejected him. Did God even care? He felt rejected, alone and afraid. Maybe God seems to be a so far away from you and  you’re wondering “why?” and questioning, like the Psalmist, if God has forgotten you. We all experience these feelings at times,  and there are countless reasons to feel rejected in this broken world – but feeling forgotten by God really hurts. When we have these feelings of being forgotten by God we have two choices. Either turn away from God in anger and frustration. Or we can allow God truth like these passages to motivate us to recognize God’s sovereignty … and continue to trust and praise Him even in the midst of our difficulties. If we feel rejected, it’s time to turn our focus upward instead of inward. Rather than rehearsing all the ways God hasn’t changed our current circumstances, let’s praise Him for the many times He has shown His faithfulness in the past. We can have a little praise pep talk of our own! God is waiting with open ears and outstretched arms, for we are too loved to ever be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a wonderful day in the Lord’s presence. May He bless you and comfort you and shine His favor on you always!

Pour out your Heart Before God!

Pouring out your Heart Before God! God made your heart, redeems your heart, and knows best how to heal your heart, whether broken or just heavy. If that sounds like you right now, then you know what to do. Get alone with God, and pour out your heart with humility and honesty, secure in His love. 

 “Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” ~Psalm 62:8

There will be times when your heart is full of questions and doubts. And you think no one else would listen or could help. So much is bottled up inside – feelings and fears that you do not know how to give a voice. Alone you wrestle with a confusion of thoughts and emotions that you cannot find words to express, nor would you to know to whom they could be safely shared. Such times can be lonely moments of the soul, when you find yourself unable to express the things inside and equally unable to dismiss them.

My dear friends, isn’t it amazing to think that the God of all creation wants us to cry out to Him and bring our daily needs to Him? Yet He does! He wants us to trust Him and come to Him with our cares and concerns. He is a refuge for us. Oh if we could remember this truth throughout our day as we scurry about with all our busy tasks. It’s easy to rush around in our own strength and power trying to get everything accomplished while forgetting that our Loving Heavenly Father invites us to look to Him for patience, wisdom and help.  

I’m reminded of how many times have we said  “No! I can do it myself!” It can be exasperating to hear those words, but how often are we saying them to God? “I’ll do it myself!” Gently, lovingly our Gracious God is holding out His hand and saying, “Come to me my child. I will be your refuge and strength.”  

Let’s melt into His arms and feel His loving embrace. No matter what we have done, His amazing grace beckons us to Him. The Bible says God loves us with an everlasting love.  His love, unlike human love, is perfect and sweet, deep and abiding. So join me in pouring out our hearts before Him, knowing He loves us with a redeeming love. 

 

 

 

 

 

God is with you!

In my quiet time this morning I was led to this scripture and message for everyone to meditate on. Do you believe God is watching over you, smiling and delighting in the fact that you are HIS child as a born-again believer? Close your eyes and picture God watching over you at this moment. No matter what you have done or what has been done to you, God’s love reaches down to hold you in His arms. Bow your head and tilt your heart to listen to Him whisper, “You are precious in my sight and I love you.” (Isaiah. 43:4,) Now rest in the promise that He loves you, He knows your needs, and He’s constantly by your side. “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” ~~Zephaniah 3:17

My friends, our heavenly Father, is watching over you. He calls you His treasured possession, the apple of His eye. There have been times when I have felt as if His hand is upon my head, letting me know that He is watching over me. To be in the loving arms of my ABBA Father is safest place of all. He takes great delight in you, just because you are His son/daughter. When you feel afraid or even a little scared, He will quiet you with His love. He says to you, “Everything is going to be alright. Your ABBA Father is here just for you.” His words are so soothing to me. They bring me peace. He rejoices over us by singing songs of His never-ending love for us. You know, God loves to be with us and watch over us. It’s not because we are doing anything for Him, but simply because we are His. We might have even disappointed Him that day, but it doesn’t change how He feels about us. I sense God wants you to know today that He delights greatly in you my friends. And with His love, He is there today to quiet your fears, concerns, insecurities and doubts. I have a feeling the joy-filled songs He sings over you are written just for you, describing the beautiful person He’s created you to be, while gently leading your heart to know and rely on His love more and more each day.

What a great reminder for times when nothing’s going right; when we feel like the whole world is against us and nobody understands what we’re going through. I hope the next time you have one of those days you’ll imagine Your Heavenly Father loves and delights in you even more then you can imagine!