Proverbs 3:5
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart...
God tells us to use every portion of our heart when we trust Him - not just half a heart or 90% of it but all of it. What is hiding in the nooks and crannies of the excess of our heart that is not trusting completely is fear, worry, and anxiety. They are the by-product of distrust. We are to trust Him completely and totally. How do we do this? I would suggest that it comes from a lifetime of trusting more and more and experiencing God's faithfulness in every situation. Building trust may take us time but God asks us to chase out every shadow of distrust in our hearts as we witness His deliverence in our lives.
What causes us to distrust? - an inaccurate perspective of the love of God. Many of us do not take God completely at His Word when He say's that He loves us. We have a distortion in this maybe because of how we have recieved and experienced human love from others that was unfulfilling and lacking. We think this is how God loves us too but it is not true. When I became a child of the King it was out of a realization that God loves me so much that He would allow Christ to give His life for mine - that means that I - You - WE are very special in His eyes. We are His treasure - they that have a heart after Him. We are literally His Kids! Let me ask you this - Do you really think that He would not be completely trustworthy when He values us this much?
I pray that you and I would see the all powerful hand of God bring our great "deliverence" in every situation as we Glorify Him with COMPLETE Trust.
Peace
Mike
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Sunday, June 19, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Continued Trust
One thing that is observable about the Israelites is that they had a hard time getting the point of trust. God repeatedly rescued them from danger and yet they continually forgot what deliverance God brought them. After the whole Red Sea crossing experience you would have thought that they would have responded with a state of perpetual trust in who God was and what He was capable of.
Today, Like the Israelites, there is a real danger of thinking that once we have trusted God for something and He has delivered us, that the trust stops there. "We'll take it from here God!" The reality is that God wants us to live in a perpetual state of trusting in his hand of deliverance and provision. Continual trust is something that God has been encouraging Anna and I with lately. We have our jobs in Texas however there are still a lot of other issues that need to happen with our move that will require trust in God's guiding hand.
I think that our greatest difficulty with living a life of continual trust is that it is an "uncomfortable" place to be without the "peace" of God gaurding our heart. When the peace is absent we tend to feel out of control. When Gods peace is missing we fear instead of simply trust. The Peace in place helps us rest in the unfailing promises of our almighty God who truly has His eyes on those that fear Him. May you experience God's Peace today!
Mike
Monday, June 13, 2011
Deliverance
My typical responce when things do not go according to my plan is frustration. My personal bent is to have a tendancy to become discouraged. My family and all those around me have felt it. I have been in Texas for a week and a half looking for work (A process that has been ongoing for two years now). When I came down I had the promise of a door that was most assuredly open and available - It closed on me. Something is different this time around however. Instead of getting the usual down cast spirit and frustration I read about how when the Israelites trusted God He delivered them.
This was not trust when things were just a "little" messed up - this was trust when they were about to be killed by an enemy that hated them. They had no response other than to trust. I decided to accept that posture in my life. I am at a place where I have no more human means of accomplishing my goal - a solid family raising job. It seems that today this should be an easy task. I never thought I would have difficulty finding work. All doors have been shut. I've tried everything and have been peering down on an empty bottomless fall IF God does not provide. There is no more safty net - EXCEPT God. He is my only hope. I believe that this is where He wants us to be sometimes. Sound cruel? Not if the intent is for His people to truly believe. How will we ever develop trust in him if we are not sometimes placed in a position where He is our ONLY HOPE!
I am happy to be able to tell you that this morning I recieved a call from a door long ago closed asking me to come and work for them. Hallelujah!! God recieves all the Glory for IT IS HE THAT HAS DELIVERED - NOT A HUMAN HAND! I tell you this because some of you are in a place of a need to be delivered. It is a scary place to be. We want to be in control. I encourage you as one that understands - relax your grip on your own solution and trust in an Amighty and Faithful God who will not fail you!! He is everything that the Bible tells us that He is - and infinitely more!
Peace to you!
Mike
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Deepest Trust
How do you develop trust? Trust is such a rare commodity in America. Who do you really trust today? The person that most Americans trust in is themselves - the only one that will "never fail". What do you do when you have exhausted all of your own possible solutions to your situation and there are no more human ideas? Who do you trust? Have you been there? I'm not talking about ignoring our responcibility to work out every possible solution to our various life situations - to work at any and all opportunity that is before us. But what do you do when every door seems to be closed? Trust!
This is the place where God forges deepest trust in Him for do we really trust in an all powerful God when we are able to accomplish God given goals in our own strength? When we come to the end of ourselves - this is the anvil that trust is forged upon. When there is no safety net - we learn to rely on the Almighty who never fails. This is the place where no human can recieve any glory or praise because no human can provide the answer. This is the place where all Glory goes to our Faithful and Almighty God. Trust is forged when the moment may seem the most bleak and empty.
Psalms 22:4 say's, "In you our Fathers put their trust, they trusted in you and You delivered them..." That they were "delivered" means that they were in a place of great difficulty - not in a moment of peace. They trusted in the moment of difficulty when there were no other options. They trusted.
You may be in a place of great difficulty today. Your options are gone. This is the place of the miraculous - where God alone will recieve the Glory before men and women. I encourage you to place your trust - your hope - in an unfailing Father who will deliver you.
Peace
Mike
Friday, June 10, 2011
Trust
I am in Texas searching for a job that will bring my family to Texas - where we feel God has directed us to go. I have experienced many closed doors. (This is not a pitty party in the least.) The latest came from a company that had already presented an offer and then retracted and chose to go another direction. I'm getting better at the emotions of it. Today I kept hearing the words "Trust!!" "Trust!!" "Trust!!" when I felt the twinges of emotion creep up - Something the devil knows how to do is pile it on - I heard the word "Trust!!"
When it is God's doing it does not mean that it will be easy. Somewhere along the lines I heard this spoken in our churches. "Where God gives vision - He also provides the resources". You know what? I believe that this is partly true - God absolutely does provide but not always in the "easy" or "express" way that we Americans like to have it. Walking by faith does not mean "ordering it up and having it delivered to us. Walking by faith is not saying all the correct things in a vision statement and then seeing it all magicly appear. Walking by faith is not seeing it all with your natural eyes. More often - when we are walking in faith - we will not understand because the Bible tells us that faith is believing that which we do not see.
Walking in faith is not easy but it is what God requires of the church - the Body of Christ - US. it is not easy - God is building something within that only He can do - maybe He is building tenacity within me - a stick to it attitude. The words God will Make a way from the old Don Moen chorus continually come to my mind these days.
God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and Earth will fade but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new today
Are you in a wilderness? Have you exhausted all of your human efforts to make it happen? Are you in a place where you do not understand your circumstances? If you are a child of God - get this inside you deep - HIS EYES ARE ON YOU and HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU! This is the place of faith. This is where Anna and I and my kids are. This is where many of you are. This is the place of the miraculous - where God recieves the Glory - for "Great things HE has done" not of human hands.
He may even do it TODAY!
Peace
Mike
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
When it is God's doing it does not mean that it will be easy. Somewhere along the lines I heard this spoken in our churches. "Where God gives vision - He also provides the resources". You know what? I believe that this is partly true - God absolutely does provide but not always in the "easy" or "express" way that we Americans like to have it. Walking by faith does not mean "ordering it up and having it delivered to us. Walking by faith is not saying all the correct things in a vision statement and then seeing it all magicly appear. Walking by faith is not seeing it all with your natural eyes. More often - when we are walking in faith - we will not understand because the Bible tells us that faith is believing that which we do not see.
Walking in faith is not easy but it is what God requires of the church - the Body of Christ - US. it is not easy - God is building something within that only He can do - maybe He is building tenacity within me - a stick to it attitude. The words God will Make a way from the old Don Moen chorus continually come to my mind these days.
God will make a way
Where there seems to be no way
He works in ways we cannot see
He will make a way for me
He will be my guide
Hold me closely to His side
With love and strength for each new day
He will make a way, He will make a way
By a roadway in the wilderness, He'll lead me
And rivers in the desert will I see
Heaven and Earth will fade but His Word will still remain
And He will do something new today
Are you in a wilderness? Have you exhausted all of your human efforts to make it happen? Are you in a place where you do not understand your circumstances? If you are a child of God - get this inside you deep - HIS EYES ARE ON YOU and HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU! This is the place of faith. This is where Anna and I and my kids are. This is where many of you are. This is the place of the miraculous - where God recieves the Glory - for "Great things HE has done" not of human hands.
He may even do it TODAY!
Peace
Mike
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Thursday, March 17, 2011
"Go to sleep!"
Every night for the past two weeks my kids have been coming down from their rooms after they had been "put down" for the night. They have the standard things going on - "I need a "bottle" of water", "you forgot my allergy medicine", "I had a bad dream" (unlikely - they require sleep first), "I forgot to brush my teeth", "There's a spider on the ceiling" (Yeah right - "Oh My - there is..." You get the picture. After a couple of interruptions to our NCIS program I finally yell - as I hear feet coming down the stairs - "Get back in Bed!" "Stay in your room!!" "Go to sleep!!"
This morning Anna (my wife) was reading from her Bible and she came across this very familiar verse of scripture from Psalm 23 - "...He makes me lie down in green pastures...." He MAKES me to lie down in GREEN Pastures. The words had a new twist to them this morning. Anna and I have been through a good but confining period in our life. I have found myself trying to kick open doors and make things happen during this time of "quiet" in our lives. We have wondered - God what are you doing? You have closed every single door that I have knocked on. This season of life does not make sense to us.
Maybe this verse gives us a needed perspective. "He MAKES me..." Interesting choice of words. Why does God "make" us lie down? It is likely that I act like my kids and at times God needs say, "Just lie down", "I have given you this time for rest and reflection - growth", "GO TO SLEEP!", "Stay in your room". I believe that there are seasons that we go through including seasons of rest and repositioning. They are hard for busy Americans to understand and accept but necessary for health and growth. God IS doing a work in us during these times. If you find yourself in this type of season in your life - maybe God has some Green (Good) pasture that He would like for you to rest in and receive from Him.
Peace
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
This morning Anna (my wife) was reading from her Bible and she came across this very familiar verse of scripture from Psalm 23 - "...He makes me lie down in green pastures...." He MAKES me to lie down in GREEN Pastures. The words had a new twist to them this morning. Anna and I have been through a good but confining period in our life. I have found myself trying to kick open doors and make things happen during this time of "quiet" in our lives. We have wondered - God what are you doing? You have closed every single door that I have knocked on. This season of life does not make sense to us.
Maybe this verse gives us a needed perspective. "He MAKES me..." Interesting choice of words. Why does God "make" us lie down? It is likely that I act like my kids and at times God needs say, "Just lie down", "I have given you this time for rest and reflection - growth", "GO TO SLEEP!", "Stay in your room". I believe that there are seasons that we go through including seasons of rest and repositioning. They are hard for busy Americans to understand and accept but necessary for health and growth. God IS doing a work in us during these times. If you find yourself in this type of season in your life - maybe God has some Green (Good) pasture that He would like for you to rest in and receive from Him.
Peace
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, February 18, 2011
God of the Mountain
"But also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done." Matt. 21:21
Our God is so immense that He could do this at any time in the same way that He divided the Red sea for Israel. Jesus tells us that we will be able to do this as well with a "mustard seed" sized faith.
I have not physically moved a mountain before. Have you? I know that my God is capable of anything yet I wonder if there is another take to this. Maybe at times the moving of the mountain is a matter of a movement of my perspective. We all face mountains at various times of our lives. We wonder, "how will we ever make it? When we first see the mountain our perspective tells us that it is immense - beyond our ability to overcome.
Then God enters into the picture (if we will let Him) and say's, You can do this and I will help. He helps us conquer the fear of the heights, to scale the difficult cliffs, and He sometimes literally carries us up and over the Mountain. When once on the other side we see that the mountain has indeed "changed". It is not as big as once thought. What has changed? Was the mountain moved? Well, maybe God literally dissolved the problem right before our eyes. But often what really changes is that our perspective has adjusted and has become more confident as we climbed over the mountain (walked through our difficulty).
From the new vantage point gained from going through the trials and problems of life we see that the mountain has actually "moved". God has changed our perspective - He has given us His point of view. Fear has taken a fall. Maybe this is some of what it means to be "more than and overcomer through Christ."
The things that we face are difficult and troubling at times. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the complexity or immensity of a "mountain" before us. But our heavenly Father is the God of the "mountain". Ask Him to give you His perspective on the difficulties before you.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Our God is so immense that He could do this at any time in the same way that He divided the Red sea for Israel. Jesus tells us that we will be able to do this as well with a "mustard seed" sized faith.
I have not physically moved a mountain before. Have you? I know that my God is capable of anything yet I wonder if there is another take to this. Maybe at times the moving of the mountain is a matter of a movement of my perspective. We all face mountains at various times of our lives. We wonder, "how will we ever make it? When we first see the mountain our perspective tells us that it is immense - beyond our ability to overcome.
Then God enters into the picture (if we will let Him) and say's, You can do this and I will help. He helps us conquer the fear of the heights, to scale the difficult cliffs, and He sometimes literally carries us up and over the Mountain. When once on the other side we see that the mountain has indeed "changed". It is not as big as once thought. What has changed? Was the mountain moved? Well, maybe God literally dissolved the problem right before our eyes. But often what really changes is that our perspective has adjusted and has become more confident as we climbed over the mountain (walked through our difficulty).
From the new vantage point gained from going through the trials and problems of life we see that the mountain has actually "moved". God has changed our perspective - He has given us His point of view. Fear has taken a fall. Maybe this is some of what it means to be "more than and overcomer through Christ."
The things that we face are difficult and troubling at times. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the complexity or immensity of a "mountain" before us. But our heavenly Father is the God of the "mountain". Ask Him to give you His perspective on the difficulties before you.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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