If you were to ask me what times have been the hardest in my walk with the Lord, it might surprise you to hear my answer, my response would be:
“The times when He has told me to be still and know that He is God.”
We live in such a microwave society, where we want what we want when we want it! Our world is full of chaos and if you are a true follower of Christ, deal with constant spiritual warfare to the point where being in battle becomes the norm and we don’t know HOW to adjust to the times where God wants to renew our spirits or as in Psalm 91:4:
“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
I wish I could convey to those Holy Spirit is bringing to read these words, how VERY much God loves you! NOTHING escapes His eyes. He SEES you! He KNOWS you! I made Jesus my Savior, Lord OVER my life 37 years ago and my relationship with Him continues to deepen and develop as I know it will continue to do ALL the days of my life. Think of it this way – a marriage is one that should be built on love and trust and intimacy, right? As the years go on you learn each other and develop a bond that ONLY exists between the two of you, such is the same when accepting Jesus as your Savior, acknowledging Him and making Him Lord OVER your life. You start recognizing what He is doing in your life. You develop an intimacy with Him that is TRULY just between you and Him and it is one that is difficult to adequately describe because it’s between YOU and HIM! As I write this, I am smiling because I know for a fact that there is NO greater love than Jesus’ love. And the way He shows me His love may be different than the way He shows you because it’s personal!
You may laugh at this (and that’s okay) but I have this intimate game I play with Him – I try to use my talents and my life as an expression of commitment and love for Him, now it TOTALLY is imperfect (because I am imperfect) but I know God sees my heart. I know He sees my desire to live for Him and show Him the love I have in my heart. Now, just to be clear I need to say this – you CANNOT earn heaven. You CANNOT be “good enough” or “do enough works” to seek God’s approval – it is by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and it is by grace, mercy and forgiveness alone and choosing to accept Him as Savior, make Him Lord OVER your life that gets you into heaven, but when you LOVE someone you want to please them, you want to show them, you want to make them smile at you. As a natural giver, I love to give to God – with my words, with my time, with my service, with my finances – however I can show Him that I CHOOSE Him FIRST time and time again. Trying to “out bless Him” in every way I can. It has become an intimate loving game, because the truth is – you CANNOT “out bless” God. It is your Father’s pleasure to bless you! He takes joy in you! He CREATED you! Can I tell you what a return blessing it is to try and being a blessing to Him? Think of it this way, when you go to hug someone you love – put your arms around them, doesn’t it feel awesome when that hug is returned? There is no greater joy than loving and being loved in return. Mark 12:30 tells us:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Oh, beloved reader, there TRULY is no better way to live! And the reason is because:
WE WERE CREATED TO BE IN FELLOWSHIP WITH OUR CREATOR
There is NO greater joy! There is joy and peace and contentment and satisfaction that is BEYOND compare in choosing to love Him and allowing Him to love you back! No other relationship you can have can fulfill that part deep inside of you that was meant to be in perfect fellowship with the Father. Everything else falls short of it! And although I am trying to fully convey this with the words I am writing, there truly is NO comparison until you allow yourself to experience it yourself! That’s why Psalm 34:8 says:
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”
I wrote a post a while back that will make you smile as you read it – it is a perfect example in my life of experiencing God’s love in a personal way. If you’d like to read it you can click on the pink link below:
Pink Bubble Gum Ice Cream Moment with my Father
Knowing that the Father is with you always is what gets you through the hard times in life – He is RIGHT there with you! Knowing the truth of Hebrews 13:5:
“He will never leave nor forsake you”
And He doesn’t! He is with us through whatever comes our way! Even when we don’t FEEL Him (we are not to be led by our feelings but by your faith, anyway). He didn’t promise us that life would be easy – and often it is not. But through it all, knowing that Psalm 37:23-24 tells us:
“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with His hand.”
I hope that gives you the same sense of security that it gives me… It tells us that God has us and that He is NOT letting go.
NO MATTER WHAT
Will you pray with me?
“Father God, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for caring for me. Thank You for being GREATER than whatever I face in life. Thank You for being in control, even when I feel out of control. Thank You for your patience when I have trouble sitting still and listening. Thank you for Your grace, Your mercy, Your forgiveness and Your love. Help me to appreciate those still moments in life and the times when You shelter me under your wings. Please forgive me for my sins and the times when I try to lean on my own insufficient strength instead of Yours. I choose to accept Your gift of salvation, I choose to make Jesus Lord OVER my life. I choose to TRUST in YOU and not in myself. Kingdom of God come, will of God be done in this life that I have given back to You. Help me to be a blessing to You Father, to walk in Your love, for I know that there is NO greater joy than loving You and being loved by You. In Jesus’ precious name I pray, amen.”
Trust Him today, lean on Him, talk to Him, walk with Him and He WILL walk with you, He WILL reveal Himself to you, He WILL respond. Sometimes allowing ourselves to just “be still” is the BEST thing we can do. We just have to do it…
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