January 07, 2015
""Remember the word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me."" (Psalm 119:49-50)
It has taken me years to see this and I often miss it still. But the issue in every situation of your life is always faith.
We are born utterly independent from God. The great act of salvation and its purpose is to bring you back into intimate dependency upon God. Therefore, the purpose of every experience God allows in your life is to push you into corners where you remember you can't make it without Him--to bring you back to the Manufacturers original intent and use for which He created you. And, to show you and those around you the absolute sufficiency of God.
THE WHY OF DIFFICULTY
This is the point of the promises, of which there are 7,000. God is speaking to you in your problem through His Word saying…
“Here I am. This is the way you are to operate. You are to listen to me and trust Me. Anything less will not work. If you operate this way, you will find that I am utterly faithful. You will discover that I am loving and kind and can be trusted. You will grow in your faith and when you grow there, you grow in your usefulness. When I have a man or woman of faith, the kingdom of God can come to him and through him and bless the world. And, you will mature in your understanding of kingdom systems, which is preparing you for your eternal work.""
The Psalmist realized that affliction is about being pressed in to God. And there is nothing that will help you or revive you at that moment but God and what He says and promises. This is why the Psalmist (who lived this way) constantly says in Psalm 119 that God’s Word is his “delight.” He loves it so because it has become the hope and mainstay of his daily experience.
LET'S GET PRACTICAL
When you encounter a problem today, how will you approach it? The most common response is to simply ""work it out"" on your own. Your best thinking and effort is applied. You get some human solution and you drudge through the difficulty. Any credit goes to you and it is not uncommon to go through these experiences this way filled with worry and fear.
But there is another option. You can go quickly to God's Word, find out what He says about the situation and take His path. You can climb up on His promises and sit down, resting on His faithfulness. You can experience HIM.
And then, when God brings His solutions, there is only One who gets the credit. The world sees the Divine in operation and is drawn to His rightness and beauty. Your life in the middle of this situation is a witness to His greatness and goodness and faithfulness.
This approach is called FAITH, and is the whole point of every exercise of your life.
January 21, 2025
We must cooperate with God in ways that make it so. We should be careful that it is nothing less … that we are creating an environment where people are encountering God and communing with Him. A place alive with His presence.
January 20, 2025
Look back over your life with eyes of faith as much as you can, and realize the magnitude of what God has done for you, the comprehensiveness of His work in and through you … and give Him thanks.
And then rise up and walk in humility today before your God.
January 17, 2025
The one who does what invites the presence of God into the situation has the ultimate reward.
