Apr

14

We walk by faith and not by sight

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When walking with the Lord, we take the time to fully seek him through prayer and study of the Bible and come to find that is where he reveals himself. His power is displayed also in nature, but in His Word, he speaks to us.

As Apostle Paul states in his letter to the Corinthians, we are assured of the resurrection by the granting of the Holy Spirit to all believers through Christ. What a great gift! Abiding in God’s word and submitting to his good and perfect will, we find ourselves led by the Spirit and yearning for the blessed hope when we see him face-to-face. Until then, we need to continue to walk with him daily and worship him—even washing the dishes can be a worshipful experience when the Lord is present in our hearts and minds.

Seeking His kingdom and searching for him in scripture is the ultimate journey we can accomplish every day as the Lord guides and directs us until we go home. Walking closely with the Lord in every avenue of our lives will never fail to yield the fruit of peace.

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

Apr

08

As the deer pants for water…

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When the Jews were exiled to Babylon, the Lord told them that after a period of 70 years of captivity, he would allow them to return to their homeland. Even though God sent them away, he still kept his eye on them.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

As a deer pants for water, we ought to seek after the Lord through our prayers and supplications for He is our refuge. When confronted with our sin, we need to find ourselves sincerely in a place of a penitent and contrite heart, which he says he will not despise, and, like the Jews, he will come to us just as he encouraged the Jews through his discipline to see their need for him.

“Then ye shall call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you…”

It is only through grace that we can enter into a relationship with the Lord, but our hearts must be earnestly open and yielding to whatever he wants to show us.

Mar

31

Where your treasure is, there lies your heart

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Apostle Paul warned the believers not to be overly concerned with worldly things—clothing, food, or their lives in general. The laws of the Pharisees regarding these were useless. Rather, he warned them of greater things.

“And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him” ~ Luke 12:4-5

Paul also instructed them on what was pleasing to the Lord, knowing that some were concerned with amassing riches and glory for themselves, and some were of a doubtful mind, beset with worry. Instead of worrying about the banal things as the world concerns themselves, Paul posed the question: “Is not life more than meat and raiment?”

To think that God clothed the lilies of the field and did not pause to forget that their lives are short lived—here one day and faded the next—how much more will he clothe you? Those of little faith, take heart, Paul said. The hairs on our heads are numbered. His eye is on the sparrow. Are you not more important?

Solomon may have been an elegant dresser, but even the lowly lily still outdid him.

 

Mar

24

Wisdom, knowledge, and the word

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In Athens, Apostle Paul spoke to the highly educated leaders plainly about Jesus. However, despite their keen knowledge, most of them were lost and could not grasp what he was saying. Instead, they laughed at him. Such is the way of the world.

Some knowledge just can’t be obtained through logic. No matter how smart or scholarly, we are not able to encompass all that belongs to the Lord if we are devoid of faith. While he has prepared wonderful and marvelous things far beyond our scope of comprehension and can do “exceedingly, abundantly above” all that we can even imagine, there is only one way to fully comprehend the truth of God’s word and that is through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

“…we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world to our glory.” 1 Cor. 2:7.

As humankind’s intelligence is limited, how can we affirm we have any spiritual knowledge or wisdom above and beyond what has been revealed to us and that we understand through faith? In the chasm between our finite minds and God’s infinite sovereignty, there is a wealth of knowledge to be found, and the Lord is only too pleased to use the Holy Spirit to teach and to guide us as we earnestly search for His truth.

 

Mar

18

Be still…

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With all of the noise coming from Twitter, Facebook, and TV news, it seems everyone has something to say in the public square. Often, the black and white issues of the day become lost in didacticism, leaving little to be stilled in those who have it all figured out as they see fit.

For us, as God’s holy people, His word tells us to be still. Adding to that it says, “and know that I am God.” Does that mean we have to be silent at all times or become a mannequin?

No, to be still before God is to render ourselves in His capable hands and into his control. To allow the Holy Spirit to control our mind and our tongue. When we face issues that come in the heat of the noise around us, He says to release everything into his hands, remembering that He is the strength of our lives. By letting go, we’re trusting God because He’s already proven himself time and time again throughout history. After all, he is the King of Kings.

While there’s a time and place to speak and act, doing so without being still before the Lord can make our desires preeminent to the Lord’s. One day, he will be exalted among the nations and “every knee will bow” to him. As his children, we can do that right now by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us, to trust him to lead us going forward and, above all, to be still before the almighty, living God.