Do you remember when you were little and grown-ups would say to you:
“Don’t be in such a rush to grow up!”
And you looked at them quizzically, thinking that they didn’t know WHAT they were talking about, at that young age equating being a grown up with TOTAL “you-can-do-whatever-you-want” freedom? (And then growing up and knowing how inaccurate that was! 🙂 ).
There are certain choices that you can’t totally grasp the meaning of until you experience it for yourself, I say this to you having made Jesus my Savior, LORD OVER my life 36 years ago. Thirty-six years of spiritual growth for the lessons Holy Spirit has brought me through (some that I have had to go through over and over again until I finally had a “duh” moment with hardheaded me and finally got what He was trying to teach me and graduate to the next spiritual lesson class). It is like that in trying to convey how faithful God is and the truth of His promises to us.
No matter WHAT you are going through in life while reading this –
GOD IS WITH YOU! AND HE LOVES YOU!
And when I say that I don’t mean in a person-loves-you-kind-of-way, but in the way that ONLY the GOD WHO IS LOVE ITSELF kind of way. And you can’t know what I mean until you make a decision for Christ and choose to allow Him to be your Savior, LORD over YOUR life that you will fully understand and grasp the meaning of these words.
And it doesn’t matter how bad your situation is, what you are going through where it looks like there is no solution, no answer, no provision to your problem. Listen, God is GREATER than whatever you are going through. There is NO problem too big that it is bigger than God. Not only that – but the Bible tells us in
1 Corinthians 13:9-12:
“For now, we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”
God sees the full picture; we see in part. I look back on my life and I can see the “God moments” where He said, “No” to my prayers only to have something MUCH better in store. The Bible tells us 2 Corinthians 5:7:
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
WE ARE TO WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT
Walking by sight is trusting in your circumstances and not in the One Who is GREATER than your situation. There truly is NOTHING too hard for our God. He SEES you! He LOVES you! If you have made a commitment to Him your steps are ordered BY Him. And He IS with you through sunshine and in rain. In singing AND in pain. We live in a fallen world, this is NOT the environment God created us to dwell in – with the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (read the Book of Genesis) sin came into the world and has affected EVERY part of it. The Bible tells us in Matthew 5:45:
“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
Our Sovereign God is merciful, He is just, He is faithful, He is forgiving, He is loving, He is graceful, you CAN trust Him. In a world that is constantly changing, accepting evil for good, living according to the flesh instead of the Word of God, God is the ONLY One Who remains the same. He is steadfast and just and sees the FULL picture, while we only see in part.
YOU WILL NEVER GO WRONG TRUSTING IN GOD INSTEAD OF THE WORLD
He is the Prince of Peace – true peace can ONLY be found in Him. I am always astonished that no matter what we go through in our walk, what we encounter, what we endure, God’s presence and His peace is RIGHT there with us. He promised He would never leave nor forsake us and He is true to His Word.
Here is what I have found in my walk with Him… A personal relationship is just that – personal. When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He told His disciples that the Father would send the Comforter to them, Holy Spirit, He IS our Teacher, our Guide and yes, our Comforter. Honestly, I don’t think I could make it through this thing called life without Him. He has brought me through SO many hills and valleys, at my lowest lows and my highest highs Holy Spirit has been there with me. For me, I have found that He doesn’t yell. His voice is soft, calm and direct. Although He has had to repeat Himself to me over and over again at times, He is a patient, Teacher. I have come to love Him as the Third part of the Trinity with my whole heart. I am dependent upon Him, especially when I can only see the step-in front of me (which is difficult because I am not a spontaneous person, but a planner and God doesn’t often allow me to see other than the step ahead of me. It’s a trust thing), but you CAN depend upon Him. We were not created to depend upon ourselves, but God. Do you? Do you trust Him? It is when people take their eyes off God and onto people or on to worry, fear, lack – you name it that they start to sink. That they lose heart and focus. It is when you don’t take time to read His precious Word (the Bible) and learn about God and use it as your “life GPS” that you start to sink.
YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR EYES FOCUSED ON GOD AND NOT PEOPLE! TAKE TIME TO KNOW GOD’S HEART – IT’S ALL IN HIS WORD!
It’s all about keeping your focus on God… Praying (talking to Him), remembering that if you are looking for God to change your heart to be one that is AFTER His, He will! Learn to recognize when something is of God and when something is not! Learn the voice of the Holy Spirit! I cannot express enough how important this is because I truly believe we are living in the last days! Jesus is coming back! You can read all about this in the Book of Revelations. When you know Holy Spirit’s voice you can recognize when something is NOT of God. I recently had someone rebuke me for something they said was of Holy Spirit and it wasn’t! It was their flesh speaking and if I wasn’t focused on God and familiar with the voice of Holy Spirit I would not have been able to tell what was of God and what was of the flesh. When you do, you can tell the difference. If someone is telling you something that does not click with what Holy Spirit is telling you or you don’t have a check in your spirit about it – it’s not of God. You can ONLY know this IF you have a personal relationship with God. You learn to LISTEN to His voice. It’s called a PERSONAL relationship with Him for a reason! It’s between YOU and Him BUT you have to grow it! You have to spend time talking with Him, listening, reading His Word! So many people get mad at God or fall away because of people. Don’t let that be you!!!
KNOW HIS VOICE FOR YOURSELF!
Bring everything to Him! Allow Holy Spirit to guide you! People WILL fail you ALL the time – we are an imperfect people who are saved by grace! Pray for those who hurt you, pray for those that are unsaved, pray for direction, pray for guidance!
PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
Take time to know God for yourself and He WILL reveal Himself to you! He loves you SO much! Determine in your mind and your heart to be a man or woman after God’s own heart. People look at the outside but God – He looks at the heart. He SEES you. He KNOWS you, purpose in your heart and mind to KNOW Him and no matter what comes your way, God will be with you, opening doors, closing doors, giving you divine appointments with people, blessing and keeping you in ways you couldn’t even fathom. He has a purpose for you – discover it! In the center of His will is unspeakable, glorious joy. Find out for yourself, and that my dear reader – is the absolute BEST way to live! In the center of His will! All the days of our lives…
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