Proverbs 3:5

One of the most helpful reminders is in proverbs 3:5.

Proverbs 3:5

New International Version (NIV)

“ ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
   and lean not on your own understanding;”

In a world that relies on the individual gaining as much knowledge as possible in order to outsmart or out whit the next person, this scripture can be proven to be difficult.

It takes some adjustment, like with most of God’s word, to change our normal ways of thinking and functioning in this world we live in today. This may have been easier to do back in the 1920’s, but then again there would still be some sort of struggle to maintain that balance.

Ideally we all, at least all the believers should be able to completely trust God to guide our steps, but figuratively and literally. We should be able to trust that God will give us everything we need to know to be diligent workers and to be happy, successful and soul winners for the Kingdom of God.

 

It sounds easy when you write it out or read it in the Bible, but for some reason it feels harder than it needs to be. One of the biggest things we could do is not think that we know everything about something or someone, just because we have “x” amount of years experience in school or whatever.

Let me ask you this…would you trust the creator of the universe to tell you what to do or what is going to happen? Or would you make your best educate guess?....

Love N Hate

Can you imagine a world without hate? This may sound like a hippie thing to say.

The only difference is that I am talking about the love of God, not just our superficial “I love you” or “I love my fellow human beings”. The love of God surpasses any type of love that we could ever begin to manufacture within ourselves. This type of love can only come through us if we allow God to use us.

Proverbs 10:12

New International Version (NIV)

“ ¹² Hatred stirs up conflict,
   but love covers over all wrongs.”

If we had more love in this world, there would be no need for wars and legal battles.

There has never been a time when someone has gotten so irate and furious with someone that the situation magically turned positive and were blessed.

Stay away from conflict-if you get caught up in it know that you have a choice to respond negatively or with the love of Christ through your words and or actions.

Whenever you fell any anger or hate boiling up in you, remember that hatred will only bring you conflict and strife in your life and your wrongs to be exposed for all to see.

Isaiah 1:19-20

The keys to living the “good life” is a lot simpler than once thought.

Isaiah 1:19-20

New International Version (NIV)

^“19 If you are willing and obedient,
   you will eat the good things of the land;

²⁰ but if you resist and rebel,
   you will be devoured by the sword.”
  For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

There are some key words that really catch my attention:

·         Willing

·         Obedient

·         Resist

·         Rebel

·         Devoured

will·ing/ˈwiliNG/

Adjective:

Ready, eager, or prepared to do something. Given or done readily: "willing obedience".

Synonyms: ready – voluntary

            Our will to do something is something that we can control. It means that we have the capability to do something and it is up to us to make the decision. God wants us to willingly follow and trust Him.

o·be·di·ent/ōˈbēdēənt/

Adjective:	Complying with orders or requests; submissive to another's will.
Synonyms:	submissive - docile - biddable - tractable - dutiful

            Telling someone to obey is like calling them a four letter word now a days. This is probably among the most difficult aspect to get under control when you enter the kingdom of God. We come from a society that tells you to only be obedient to your parents to an extent then told to be completely independent and “march to their one beat” later on. It takes time to get ourselves back into the mode of being a child and being obedient to our heavenly father.

re·sist/riˈzist/

Verb:	Withstand the action or effect of.
Noun:	A resistant substance applied as a coating to protect a surface during some process, for example to prevent dye or glaze adhering.
Synonyms:	verb.  withstand - oppose - stand noun.  resistance

“Resist” is a commonly used word, but has been over used to the point where people don’t take it seriously anymore. Resisting God is something that you DO NOT want to do. Resisting could mean the result of blessings being withheld.

reb·el/ˈrebəl/

Noun:	A person who rises in armed resistance against an established government or ruler.
Verb:	Rise in opposition or armed resistance to an established government or ruler.
Synonyms:	noun.  insurgent - mutineer - insurrectionist - rioter verb.  revolt - mutiny - rise - riot

Being a rebel is no longer considered an awful thing to be called, but now is a compliment to most in this society. It is all about going against old rules and creating new ones-new standards which unfortunately are lower standards than what they are going against.

devouredpast participle, past tense of de·vour (Verb)

Verb:

Eat (food or prey) hungrily or quickly. (of fire, disease, or other forces) Consume (someone or something) destructively.

You obviously never want to be devoured by the sword of God. Devour takes on a whole new level of intensity when it is stated in the word of God. In Isaiah 1:20, the word “devour” can mean an eternity separated from God.

Ask-Seek-Knock

Do you know somebody who has always been there for you when you called on them? Some of you may have somebody that you that are there for you…for the most part, which is a blessing.

It’s hard at times to believe that there actually is somebody that we can always count on to be there for us and to make sure we have everything we need. I guess it’s one of things that you have to put on the “just get over it” list. If we can’t believe that God can supply us with the things we want and need, how do we expect our needs to be met in the natural?

Another aspect of having our needs met is that we spend our lives trying to find God, or a god, or even if there is a god, yet we usually look everywhere else but in His word. We look at people who seem to have such a strong spiritual connection to God, but we don’t know how or if we can achieve that type of connection.

Matthew 7:7

New International Version (NIV)

    ⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

God says simply, ask, seek and knock….

Who would’ve thought it would be so simple to communicate what we want and need from Him.

Examples…

ASK: In need of finances to buy a home for you and your family…

SEEK: Getting on your face and acknowledging God is a mighty God and meditating His word...

KNOCK: Use His word and His Spirit to access what was unknown to you…

Miracle

Miracles plural of mir·a·cle (Noun)

Noun:

A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is considered to be divine. A highly improbable or extraordinary event, development, or accomplishment.

Miracles are a little different than the normal blessings of God. Miracles are above and beyond anything that anyone could do or even mimic. There are no natural explanations of how these things could happen…but God…

John 2:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

“ ¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

   ⁴ “Woman,^[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

 ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

One of the most well known scriptures, other than John 3:16, is the scripture about how Jesus turned water into wine.

We all have seen how sitcoms, cartoons and comics have made jokes regarding this event and had dubbed wine as “Jesus Juice”.

What we don’t realize is that this whole happening was a miracle.

Who else do you know that can literally turn water instantaneously into wine??

This is a “simple” reminder to just the kind of power there is through Christ. This also shows us that even we can receive the same as the woman. 

We are not barred from receiving miracles, we can still access miracles at anytime. We have to know God’s word and remind Him that we want the same type of miracle to happen for us, for whatever your situation may be. Everyone needs a miracle in their life.

Seek and obey=Miracles

Listen to what God tells you to do. Miracles don’t just happen without any action by anyone, it takes seeking and following instruction.

You can’t be rebellious and expect God to give you a miracle. You must tell Him what you need and ask what you need to do or change in order to be in line with His word.

To be continued….

Friends

Most of us have friends who are in the world.

Sometimes I forget that some of my friends aren’t believers of Jesus Christ. It’s hard to think or even picture some of my friends not being able to go to Heaven. As a young person, we don’t usually think of our secular friends as “projects” or people that we need to “convert”, it can be difficult to speak about God and the love of Christ to the ones that know us better than some of parents and have seen us do and say different things that may not have been very “Christian”. You don’t know how to approach a friend about the matter and don’t want to risk losing them as a friend or causing some friction in your friendship. 

I completely understand how awkward it can be to be around your friend or group of friends when God or the Church is brought up in your presence. Those are really the opportunities to share that you believe in God or clear any misconceptions that are being made known. 

In some cases all we can do and show the love of Christ through our actions towards them and others. 

I believe that we should have like-minded Christian friends, however I can’t say that we shouldn’t have some secular ones too. I think we need to be able to tap in to how the young people and kids are who are living the world.

Sometimes it feels like Christians try to completely isolate themselves from anything that even “smells” like “the world”…

But really we need to get out there to reach those who are caught up in the world.

However, unless you are prayed up and have a strong foundation in Christ and are not afraid to speak about God in the company of non believers, then I would say to go out and reach those who are in the world. But if you do not even feel remotely comfortable with doing so, I would limit my contact with non believers.

Don’t be ashamed of not being able to “convert” your friends, we can only do what we can in the moment.