Come Boldly

I'm hearing about these thoughts lately from some people: Who are we to demand from God? And tell Him what we want and expect Him to do as we asked? He knows better than we do. We should just leave it in His hands.

Well, that's almost like saying, Why pray? He'll take care of it. He knows what we need.

But the Lord Jesus said to ask. Didn't He say, "Ask and it shall be given unto you?" And another scripture, "You have not, because you asked not." And another by apostle Paul in Philippians 4:6, "Be careful for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

Sure, Paul doesn't want us worrying about our problems but he definitely saw the need for us to ask.

I get this thing that we shouldn't dictate how God should fix things. Sure. But nevertheless we should ask; we need to ask…He wants us to. And furthermore I'm not averse at all about demanding from God (for lack of words) or being forceful about our desire with what we want done! Yes! Absolutely! We can surely tell God what we want and even to the minutest details. We are not dictating how He should fix things; we are telling Him our desires. And why should that be wrong? If we are His Bride and He is our Bridegroom why should we tippy-toe around Him about what we desire? Let Him decide what will be done. That is His prerogative. Yes, He knows best, in everything. Definitely. But that doesn't mean we can't tell Him how we feel and what we would like to happen. Again, even to the littlest details.

If we are to read the book of Psalm, there are a lot of pretty bold prayers in there!

"O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." {Psalm 80:4-6}

"…how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?"

Imagine? That's basically saying, "God, why are you angry at us? Why are you not hearing our prayers?"

And another, "You're giving us tears to drink in great measure..." I mean, talk about bold prayers! Telling God what He's doing wrong!

Shocking, isn't it? But it's really simple. When you are upset…when you are in the throes of despair, you  need to voice out how you feel! You can't beat around the bush about it. You want God to see what is wrong! You need Him. You're desperate, He must come! He is your God who cares and understands. And when you have a relationship with Him and you know where you stand with Him, you can definitely be bold with your prayers - as a child to his father who knows that he is loved.

Here's one from king David:

O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set Thee before them.

But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thine handmaid.

Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because Thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me. {Psalm 86:14-17}

King David tells it like it is. "There are proud and violent people out there, Lord God, that's after my soul. I know that You are a God full of compassion, gracious and merciful. Have mercy upon me! Give me strength! Save me! Show me something good that those that hate me may see it and be ashamed! Because they will see that You have helped me and comforted me."

I mean, talk about confidence; one who knows God and knows he is loved by Him. David wasn't ashamed to ask that his enemies will be ashamed of themselves, wasn't he? I mean, that's what he wants. And you know what, we can't hide anything from God. Even if we don't ask it, He knows the intent of our hearts. So, we might as well tell Him like it is.

Here's one from Asaph:

O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme Thy name for ever? Why withdrawest Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Pluck it out of Thy bosom. {Psalm 74:10-12}

"Why withdraw-est Thou Thy hand, even Thy right hand? Pluck it out of Thy bosom."

"Pluck it out of Thy bosom."

See, that prayer? It's basically saying, "God help! It's not time to be relaxing! I need You to come and help!"

Here's a famous one, that Jesus Christ Himself prayed, while hanging at the cross:

My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Why art Thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou hearest not; and in the night season and am not silent." {Psalm 22:1-2}

You get what I mean. I mean, be confident, be bold, tell God how you feel.

These are prayers said from people that knew God - had a relationship with God. They were the people of God. They talked about Him, seen His powers, and felt His glory. They knew who He was. They made these bold prayers and weren't afraid of it.

How much more then, should we be bold today with ours, now that Jesus Christ has come to become our intercessor to God, and has died for our sins, and is our Bridegroom? How much more then should we tell Him exactly how we feel and how we would like it to happen?

Let Him decide what is best for us…definitely we will tell Him, "Lord do what is best in Your eyes, for You know the truth and the future and what will be good for me." But nevertheless we can boldly say, "But Lord Jesus, this is what I wish - what I desire - please if it's good with You, grant it; and let Your name be glorified in my life."

Be confident. Know that you are very much loved. There is nothing that He will not do for you that is good in His eyes.

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." {Hebrews 4:16}

When God's Against Us

"The LORD hath chastened me sore: but He hath not given me over unto death." 
{Psalm 118:18}

How awful is it when God is the one against us? It's one thing if it's someone else that's against us; our friend, a co-worker, a loved-one, or even someone we can't stand. We can go to God and find Him and get His comfort and help. But when we feel it's Him that's against us? Well, how awful! It's like death! It can't get any worse!

And then, if we are known to be the one to proclaim His goodness and His mercies - and praise His name, how awful is it when one aggravation after another aggravation come against us from every corner?

Are we going to get angry with God like Job did and say, What have you against me? I didn't do anything wrong! Or are we going to give up on God and say, No more! This is it! I'm doing it my way and am not serving You anymore!

Far be it! Don't do that! But I would do what Job did and say with a humble heart, "Okay, Lord God, what have I done? Please show me. Why are all these terrible things happening to me in my life? Open my eyes. Please show me if there's anything I'm doing wrong or supposed to do? Please show me."

It could be, as His people, we have turned against the Lord and have sinned against Him. We could have been rebellious and haven't been listening to the Lord. If that is the case with us, we might as well swallow our pride and acknowledge God's righteousness. We can't keep fighting Him and insisting what we want. It's never going to work! We are never going to win. The sooner we acknowledge our rebellious tendencies before Him, the sooner we will find His mercies and grace! And He will ease up on those afflictions and trials. He will gladly show us how to return back to Him and please Him again. His desire is to help us, not make serving Him hard on us but easy. The Bible states His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If you've been feeling overwhelmed about serving the Lord, something's wrong. We need to talk to Him about it. He is not a tyrant. He is a loving and compassionate Master - we just need to talk to Him about it.

I know serving God can sometimes become overwhelming and miserable. And we often think it's normal…"This is how it's supposed to be." We have a secular job we go to everyday, then a household to run, then on top of it church services to attend and the demands of our pastors and ministers. At the end of the day we feel exhausted and resentful. Then we reproach ourselves for feeling this way. And we know we have to pray. But who feels like praying now?

Something has got to give and prayer can't be one of them. Give everything else up - cooking, cleaning, going to church; but never prayer! Without it you are going to be lost…You are going to sink! You are going to be a ship without a rudder or direction. You need prayer!

Talk to the Lord. I don't care where it is. In your car - away from everyone that can see you or hear you - and just talk. Tell the Lord exactly what's eating you up - your life - your housework - your husband - your children - your work - church! Whatever they are - talk to Him. Complain. Yes, complain! King David did. How do you think He got himself encouraged in the Lord? He "complained" to God his troubles. Look what king David said here:

"I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before Him; I showed before Him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knew(est) my path…" {Psalm 142:1-3}

The Lord cannot help us if we do not tell Him what's bothering us. And yes, even church work! It could be that that wasn't even His idea for you. It might have been your own or you forgot to check with Him whether you should agree to that role your pastor or your minister asked you to take. Just because it was your "elder" or pastor or minister that asked you doesn't mean it's from God. We must check with Him at all times what He thinks. It is His work after all.

And maybe you're not even supposed to work a secular job. Maybe your heart is really to staying home and taking care of your children but you are pressured about money! Talk to the Lord about it. He could easily show you another way to bringing in income without you ever stepping foot outside your house! He has many resources - the Lord. Trust Him to bring them to you. Do not settle. Tell Him what you desire. But you must hang on and trust Him every step of the way. It might not happen overnight, but He will show you.

When God wants us, and wants our attention, He will get it. He knows how. And so, let's not harden our hearts against Him. Because at the very bottom of it is His love for us. He wants to save us and spare us from things we do not see ahead. He alone knows. We must trust Him.

And let us not get into "God-hating" - "tantrums" scenarios - which I'm sure we all fall prey to. Oh, God, why are you doing this?! God! Why do you hate me?! What have I done?! Why are things so wrong in my life?!

Forget it - you're not ever going to get anywhere with that. I've been there - done that. I just end up worse and even more depressed.

The only way out is to come to Him and seriously ask His help. And with an open mind say, "Jesus, please show me what to do. Please, Savior if I have done anything displeasing before you, please forgive me and bring me back to you. Please help me."

Your life's mess may not unravel overnight; but I guarantee you it will. God has been trying to get your attention because He can see something in the future that you cannot see. He loves you. He loves us. And He wants what's best for us.

So next time when it feels like God seems against us, just talk to Him. He is trying to get your attention.

Be Still

Sometimes we go in a quandary trying to figure God out; how He can hear us and understand us. Sometimes we just need to be still and know that He is God and that He can do anything. A child doesn't wonder at all if his father or mother will understand him or hear him if he voices out his needs, he just voices them out. He doesn't worry how they're going to give him food or provide for him, he just knows they will. That's exactly how we should be. God made us and created us, we are His children. He knows too well how to understand us and how to take care of us; we just need to talk to Him and let Him know what we desire. 

Dealing With Anger

“He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated.” {Proverbs 14:17}

“He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” {Proverbs 14:29}

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” {Proverbs 16:32}

Being patient is a real virtue – being long suffering and being slow to anger. It’s not easy to be slow to anger and to be long suffering – especially in our day in age where we have microwaves to quickly reheat our meals, drive-thru restaurants to get our food, and we drive 65-70 miles per hour to get to our destination. In addition, any knowledge or information we need can be retrieved by a quick press of our fingertips. Still, being slow to anger is a great thing to aspire for – a great virtue we are so lacking in our times.

First off, it will keep us from a lot of trouble, if we are less easily angry and have more patience. How often do you ever stay up late for not saying something drastic and mean? But when you do, because you got quickly annoyed, how many times have you wished you kept your mouth shut? Even to this day I still find myself cringing over some of the stuff I have said years ago. I actually sometimes find myself asking God to erase it from the other person’s memory and to comfort them. I pray too that He will take it away from me and not let them haunt me anymore. No, you never feel too bad about not saying anything at all; but you definitely feel worse when you do.

Secondly, we will save ourselves from hypertension and all kinds of illnesses if we suffer long and not entertain anger. Anger causes stress and depression. If we don’t forgive and let things go easily because we are angry, that will surely work into our health and kill us.

And lastly, anger causes sin. Being angry will cause us to think and say things that we shouldn’t and can create animosity against someone we are angry with. It will create bad feelings and can ruin friendships. There have been arguments and misunderstandings that have solely been created because one got easily angry.

And then, as a saint of God, where do we turn? How can we do righteous acts freely when we in our hearts hate our brother or sister? We cannot deceive the Lord.

What’s the solution?

We need to talk to the Lord about it. Ask Him for help. Get Him involved. Once you have Him involved you can rest assured that the next time you get angry or fail to do what is good and right, you know you are not alone. You don’t have to carry all that guilt all on your own. You can hand it to the Lord.

An interesting thing I’ve observed though with the Lord, once He is involved is I seem to find myself in a worse scenario than I have ever done before. It seems the Lord is showing me how bad my temper is and is making me aware of it even more so now than I ever thought of. It might seem like the opposite effect is happening – I’m finding myself angrier than I ever did before when it’s the very thing I did not want to do. It’s very simple really; the Lord is making me more aware of my anger issue – making me more sensitive. You just didn’t realize how often you get angry. But now you see it. And what’s more, you’re becoming more sensitive to it, so that even a little scenario seems big to you. Why? It’s simple – so you don’t want it to do it anymore. So you know exactly what specific issues in your anger to cry to the Lord for. (And this seems to about apply to any sin you struggle with, as soon as you bring them to the Lord.)

I find, it helps to talk to the Lord about every scenario I've encountered that day and seemed to fail at in my task for long suffering. I tell Him what I do not like about it and ask for His help. And I feel His comfort and assurances. Whenever we commit our works to the Lord our thoughts will be established. We will see in our minds what we have to do the next time we're starting to feel annoyed. I've found that I actually feel the Holy Spirit dealing with me to ease down and to let it go. I find Him comforting me and "fizzle out" the steam I am feeling at the moment. It definitely helps to ask for more of His Spirit to help us calm down and control our anger spirit and to let it go. Really, a lot of the things we deal with in this life is a spirit. And often we like to hold on to them without even realizing it. And the only thing to fight them and win over them is through more of the Spirit of God. So we should definitely not hesitate to ask for more of it from Him.

And then there's the Enemy who will like to discourage you and belittle you in your struggle. He will want to make us feel that we have failed the Lord and He surely is angry with us now and would not want us anymore. Why even bother with Him? He surely is angry, why come? No, He is not. How can He be angry when He is helping us and we are expecting His help? This is the same lie the devil has thrown to mankind from the very beginning of time. And many have been destroyed because they believed it. They walk away from God and no matter how many times God pleads to them, they choose to believe a lie instead. God cannot help us if we run away from Him. The only way He can help us is when we talk to Him about everything that bother us. There is nothing we can ever do to turn Him away from us except unbelief: unbelief in His love for us and an unbelief in His ability to help us. There is no sin that’s not nailed to His cross. Every single thing you can ever do against the Lord has been nailed to His cross. And there is nothing that can separate us from His love. {See Romans 8:33-39} Nothing. The only way to find more of His love is to come to Him more and talk to Him more – even how awful we feel inside. 

The only thing that will make Him angry is if we don’t talk to Him anymore – because we don’t believe Him enough to forgive us and to love us…because that hurts Him more than anything.

So we need to talk to Him; because He is our heavenly Father who loves us so very much. And He gave His life for us so we can be forgiven of all of our sins and freely turn to Him. Do not let the enemy rob you of your wonderful relationship you could have with the Lord. Believing in His love for us is so important. The more we turn to Him and bring our sins to Him, the better our relationship will be.

“Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” {Romans 8:37}

“Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.” {Proverbs 16:3}

“He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he.” {Proverbs 16:20}

How To Pay God Back

So the Lord's been good to you. He's answered your prayers, granted you your heart's desire, and has made your dream come true. Now what? You want to give Him something back. You want to show that you appreciate Him and you want to pay Him back. But how?

I've just been thinking about a friend of mine. About a year or so ago she's down in her luck, big time! She's married a horrible guy, very abusive, and had made her cry and frustrated her every single day of the year she was with him. It became so unbearable for her that she had no other choice but to leave him and divorce him. Not even a year later of leaving this guy the Lord sends her a complete opposite guy; very loving, very thoughtful and just made her happy. And this week they got married. They look so happy together. And the guy seems to just adore her.

And then I thought, so now what? How do you show the Lord you are thankful? What can you possibly give to Him in this life that He hasn't already have? Give your tithes? Send money to the missions? Go to church of course. Give your time to someone who needs it? How? Is this really what He wants? How can you pay someone who has given you your life back? Your dreams! Your soul back! Happiness, peace, joy! How?

None of the above. Sure, you could go ahead do all that stuff if you want. But I will tell you a better way: Talk to Him. Give yourself to Him; your thoughts, your heart, and your time. Your time is what He wants. Your thoughts. Your desires. That's what will make Him truly happy inside. He wants nothing beyond that. He doesn't want you to do any great feat for Him. He doesn't want you to pay Him back monetarily - He owns the whole world. What He wants is your time and your thoughts turned towards Him.

You might say, But that's so easy!

Exactly. It is easy.

But you might say, But I want to give Him something more; He's been so good to me!

Nope; don't give Him anything else. This is it. Talk to Him. That's what He wants. Acknowledge Him. Tell Him how much you appreciate all the things He's done for you. Involve Him in your thoughts, in your decision making, in your day to day activities, and in your desires. Every.Moment.Of.The.Day. That's what He wants. He wants you to make Him your friend, a very close intimate friend. He is hungry for this. Hungry! This  is the only thing you could possibly do that will make Him happy. Nothing more! Trust me on this!

(He wants me to write this post for this very reason. He wants me to tell people, this is how He wants to be paid back!)

I will show you an example. I'll pretend I'm this friend who just got married to a wonderful guy. First thing I would do on my wedding night is to bring my husband to sit with me and talk to the Lord with me. We will tell the Lord together how thankful we are for bringing us together. We will talk to Him for awhile. We will tell him how unhappy we were alone in our own lives before He puts us together. And then I will tell Him how unhappy I was in my previous marriage and how terrible it was. Go even into that miserable detail and remember how miserable I was. And then tell Him, how wonderful my life is now with my new husband. How changed everything is. How thankful I am that He has brought my husband to me, who loves me and cares so much for me. I will tell Him, God, You have made me so happy, I can't thank You enough. Thank You, with all my heart and soul. And then I will even sing Him a song. A song is what He loves when it comes from the depths of our hearts. I will sing Him a song that means to me at that moment. Something that expresses my feelings for Him. He loves a song. There's a whole book in the Bible just for it. It's called Psalms.

And then, I will make this talking to God a habit; with my husband and with my own self. When I wake up in the morning, I will acknowledge the Lord and say, Good Morning Lord Jesus! Today is going to be a great day because You're with me and I will bring You with me wherever I go. I will talk to You all the time. I love You so much! You mean so much to me! Thank you again for this new life You have given me. And then I will sing Him a song. A song that shows my feelings of love towards Him. I will also ask Him for His blessing, protection, and guidance, for myself and for my husband and for anyone else that I care and love in my life. I will mention them to Him by name. I will also ask Him for His mercy upon my ex-husband that God will change his heart and make him happier too like myself. I would also ask for the Lord's forgiveness for anything I have said, done, thought of, or entertained in my heart that were not pleasing before Him. I will also ask Him to fill me with His Holy Spirit; to change me and help me to be the child and friend He would like for me to be.

Throughout the day I will talk to Jesus. I will try to remember to pause in my mind during my job and my lunch hour or any time I think of Him and thank Him for being my friend; thank Him for dying for me at the cross and giving His life as sacrifice so I can be forgiven of my sins. I will thank Him again for making me happy. I will talk to Him whatever comes in my heart. If something annoying or upsetting or that worries me comes up, I will talk to Him about it. I will call on Him for help. And I will thank Him for saving me and helping me.

And finally, before I climb up to my bed or go to sleep at night, I will talk to Him again. Even for ten minutes, I will acknowledge Him. I will say to Him, Lord thank You for seeing me through another day. Thank you, for keeping me and protecting me and my husband and all those that I love. Thank you again for giving me a new life and making me happier this year than how I was last year. And then I will remember and mention to the Lord and thank Him for anything throughout the day that I'm thankful to Him about. Maybe things He has worked out for me or granted to me. Even for helping me to talk to Him and to remember Him. I will again ask Him to forgive me for anything I have said, done, thought of, desire in my heart that were not pleasing to Him. And to ask Him again if He would fill me more of His Holy Spirit and work in my heart to change me and make me the person He desires for me to be. I will then ask Him to protect me and my husband and my loved ones as we sleep during the night and keep us from any evil spirits or bad dreams. Then finally I would say, I love you, Jesus.

Throughout the night whenever I find myself awake, I would love Him in my thoughts, I would say, Thank You, Jesus for being here for me. Thank You, Jesus for loving me. Thank You, Jesus for keeping me. And whatever else that comes into my heart to thank Him with or even if it's something that troubles my mind at the moment or worries me, I will talk to Him about it even for that time I'm awake. Don't brood over anything on your own; brood it over with the Lord. Talk to Him about it and ask Him for help. He loves that. That's what He wants. You're not bothering Him or burdening Him at all. He is a Spirit remember? He doesn't ever get tired.

This is what He is looking for: us involving Him every moment of the day, in our hearts and in our souls - in our lives; bringing Him into our thoughts. There is no problem or worry too small for Him. Talk to Him about it. He wants to be involved.

Talk to God always. That is how you can pay God back. Your time. Yourself. Your attention to Him. It's nothing hard. Just make time to talk to Him and acknowledge Him in your life. Make it a habit. Give Him of yourself. Acknowledge Him everyday, every moment. Talk to Him all the time. No matter what it is, He wants to be involved. Acknowledging Him is the biggest respect you could ever give Him. Acknowledge Him every time you remember Him by talking to Him. That is what will make Him happy the most. That's how to pay God back for all He's done for us.

"In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." 

{Proverbs 3:6}

I will praise the name of God with a song; 

and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.

This also shall please the LORD better

than an ox or bullock that hath horn and hoofs.

{Psalm 69:30-31}

 

How To Be Led By Him

"Doth not He see my ways and count all my steps?" {Job 31:4}

Scary, isn't it? He sees all our ways and count all our steps? Really? Well, that's what it says. And I'm sure if it's not literally He's counting our steps, it surely means God knows every single thing we do - what we do and where we go. That's why I think, Better commit my works to Him since He knows everything anyway. This way, He can lead me to what is good. And hey, I might end up being saved in the end from a lot of unnecessary heartaches.

You might ask, How do I do this?

By talking to Him about it in your prayer. You can ask Him to direct your steps (instead of coming up with your own) and lead you to what is good before Him. Now, it might not seem "good" always; but if you're trusting Him from now on, then you have to trust Him that He can work all things out everything for your good.

Another thing to do, is to talk to Him throughout the day what you're doing. Proverbs states: "Commit all your works unto Him and your thoughts will be established." {Proverbs 16:3} This is how to "commit" it: By talking to Him about it. You can tell Him what your plans are during the day; what you need done and what you would like to do. Then leave the rest to Him to take care of it. Which means, if you feel a tug to do something else or you feel "led" to go somewhere, go with it. It could very well be the Lord is dealing with you and leading you to do it. Which means, if not everything in your list gets done, you don't get annoyed about it. You leave it in His hands. You thank Him for it. Because, you are trusting that He is leading you.

It's a day to day practice. And it does takes practice trusting the Lord to work things out for you. But it gets easier and it gets better. You will find yourself happier. When He "anticipates" your needs and certain things you did not think about gets "worked out" for you, you will be amazed how involved He really is with our lives. There is nothing too trivial for Him. I've had it where I worried about not getting dinner done in time because I felt led to commune with the Lord. So I tell Him about it. And I get an assurance It's going to be okay. Later I look at my phone and my husband tells me he's going to be home later. That's just one of many examples. There have been so many "incidents" I've experienced with the Lord that has shown me how involved He really is when I get Him involved.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." {Proverbs 3:5-6}

Make God Greater

"Unto thee will I cry, O Lord my rock; be not silent to me: lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit." {Psalm 28:1}

Why is it sometimes God is silent? Is it really because He's had it with us and can no longer deal with us? But then, whatever happened to His mercy that endures forever? Or that He is slow to anger and full of compassion? Why does it seems like He doesn't hear anymore no matter how hard or how long we cry? Is He weary of us because we are so foolish and continually make mistakes? I hope not.

I think sometimes, God seems far because our burdens and our problems are bigger than Him. Not because He can't handle them but because we have become overwhelmed with them and can't see clearly anymore. We cry and we cry and He is right there and yet we can't see Him, nor hear Him because we've made our problems too big for Him.

Times like these we need to turn to the word of God and encourage ourselves in the Lord. We need to start from the very beginning and just start reading about His goodness and greatness. Start focusing truly on Him rather than our problems. When we do this, then God will start getting nearer, bigger, greater, and ever present in our minds. He then can work on our behalf because we are believing on Him rather than tying Him down with our unbeliefs. Whenever we focus on His goodness and greatness and talk to Him about His love for us, then there's nothing He will not do for us. He will be greater than our problems. He will prove Himself to be true. There will be nothing too hard for Him because He is good. He is great. And He is awesome.

Instead of focusing on our problems and our ability to fix them, lets open the Bible and read His word. Talk to Him about His word and His goodness. Let's praise Him and love Him. And we will see and realize that truly that there is nothing too hard for Him. He will come through for us and He will see us through another day.

"My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever." {Psalm 73:26}

"To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not besilent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever." {Psalm 30:12}

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." {Matthew 19:26}

"Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." {Mark 9:23}

Finding Comfort In God

"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
(Psalm 55:22)

"Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me."
(Psalm 50:14-15)

Finding comfort in the Lord is possible. But we have to take time for it. And the more we get in the habit of finding comfort in Him whenever we're unhappy or things don't go our way, the easier it gets. But again, we have to take time for it. We have to remember Him and come to Him.

It's not hard at all. All it takes is coming to Him with our hearts.

This morning, after spending the whole weekend with my husband and he's gone back to the usual "work-week", I just felt so bummed out. After my usual morning routine of chores and playing in my craft room for an hour, I came to my sitting room to come to the Lord. He had told me in my mind to come to Him at ten. (I have learned to commit my days to the Lord and so that He's the one that tells me what I am doing next by placing it in my heart and in my mind. Sometimes He tells me to come at noon, sometimes at ten. Yesterday He said at six because it was Sunday and church starts at ten. He then places in my heart what to do next so that I don't have to plan or worry about what chores to do or what to accomplish. There are times I let Him know ahead of time that I need to do something, like do laundry or clean my room, and He helps me accomplish them. He tells me when to wake up too. He calls my name and places in my heart to get going and not to lie around too long in bed. He's been truly gracious to me. I've been living in this complete rest for awhile now since I've learned to commit my days to Him.) Anyway, this morning, I came here to my room at ten and just couldn't have the heart to do what I'm supposed to do. At first, I was supposed to write another song, but when I tried to do it, I ended up falling asleep. When I woke up, something tells me to practice instead. So I tried. But it didn't last. I placed my guitar down and started talking to the Lord in my heart and asking, What is wrong with me, Lord? And in my spirit I knew what was wrong, I missed my husband. But I had such sorrow in my soul because of it. I felt so low. My heart did not even feel right. I felt like I'm going to cry, but then I felt like an idiot for it because how many times has he gone to work every Monday and I recover so quickly? I did not miss him as I am missing him today. Anyway, this thought came to my heart, to read my Bible instead. So I started reading it and started to feel better. Still, sorrow, sadness, just weighing my heart down, pressing me. I did the next best thing I knew, I rebuked the spirit of depression away from me and bound him; and told him May the Lord rebuke him too. I felt a little better. I read couple of more chapters of Psalms and then laid my head down on my desk and talked with the Lord. I started thanking Him for all the wonderful things He has given me in this life; my health, my house, my wonderful husband who loves me so much, and the sun that is shining to help me bear through the loneliness of not having him around again. Then I said to the Lord, "What is wrong with me, Lord?" Because I still felt so bummed out! Then He said, "You miss Evan….Love me and I will comfort you." And so I did. I started talking out loud to the Lord of how thankful I am to have Him in my life. How since I was much younger He has been there for me to see me through so many sorrows and heartaches and troubles in my life. As I thanked the Lord and loved Him for being so good and gracious to me in my life, tears started to flow, then I started to speak in tongues. I continued to worship Him and praise Him because His presence was filling my heart and soul taking my sorrows away. I sang a song to Him I had written, "Your Name Is Jesus", and loved Him and worshipped Him some more. 

And now, thank you, Jesus, that sorrow, that pang, that harrowed-ness, is gone! He is so gracious to my soul! He is so real! He is so sweet! He is so good! Oh, I love Him so much! He is so real!

Truly, if we cast our burdens upon the Lord He knows how to sustain us. 

The beautiful thing about becoming dependent on God's comfort is that He is right there the second you need Him. Because He has come to know you to depend on Him whenever you're feeling bad. And He loves that. He loves it when we come to Him for comfort. Even for the littlest and tiniest reason. And you get to learn His presence and His voice that you know it's Him, there's no worrying whether He hears you or not. You know it's Him. And that alone is such a comfort!

There is no comfort like Jesus' comfort. He truly does satisfy our needs. He said in His word He will come to us and comfort us.

"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you." 
(John 14:18)

I love Him so much!

Thank you, Jesus!

Do Not Forget The Lord

"They soon forgot His works, they waited not for His counsel. But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:13-15)

We have to be careful to remember the wonderful things that the Lord has done for us and continue to look to Him for counsel. Or else, He will send leanness into our souls. Maybe that's why many of us are so unhappy these days and feel that pang and gnawing and even wretchedness in our hearts. If we do, it's time, as a saint of God to stop looking to man for counsel and salvation. It's time to turn our hearts back to the Lord and say, "Please Lord heal me, for I have sinned." As king David confessed in his psalm: For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin."

We cannot hide anything from the Lord. If we are looking to other "gods" out there in the world - meaning, other "savior"; we are greatly offending the Lord. 

"If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god; shall not God search this out? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart." (Psalm 44:20-21)

The best thing to do is to wait on the Lord in prayer, no matter how hopeless we feel inside. He will come and will revive us if we wait on Him.

It could be that the Lord is angry with us and has sent "leanness" upon our souls because we have forgotten Him and have turn to the intelligence and wisdom of our friends and families and society instead of waiting after Him.

And what is the intelligence of man? It doesn't matter if he's a renowned doctor or psychiatrist or surgeon or what have you - even a great prophet or "a man of God". If our hearts are turned to them instead of the Lord, we are in trouble. If we are looking for our healing and salvation to them first, when we know the Lord and has experienced His goodness to us and miracles in time past, we are in trouble. God is not a man that He should lie, neither a son of man that He should repent, what He said He will do, what He has spoken He will make it good.  If He has said we can look to Him for our salvation and that there is no other savior, then we are in trouble if we are choosing other means of salvation besides Him first. He should be the first thing we look to at all times. No matter what. He must have our hearts and full trust - not in mere man.

Man is man, he is not God, no matter how intelligent he is. God alone is our salvation. God created man, not the other way around. And God alone saved man at the cross and died for his sins. The scripture states, "the chastisement of our peace was placed upon Him and by His stripes we are healed."

It's time to look to the Lord and wait on Him for answers. Pray to Him and ask for His grace and forgiveness. Don't look to man for salvation. God may have provided man for our help, but he is not the source of help. God is. We must look to the Lord first. And wait on Him for directions.

Don't lean upon our own understanding to save our own selves. Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Look to His word, know His word, meditate on His word, and hope in Him. And He will come!

He will come and save us because He is faithful! He is holy and there is no lie in Him. If His word said it, we can depend on it. But we must have faith in His word and we must wait on Him. 

He said He will come to those who look to Him for salvation. The Bible states, If we seek Him with our whole hearts we will find Him.

So look to Him, pray to Him, read His word, and finally, wait for Him; because He is faithful and He will save us!

Do not forget the Lord!

God Is Our Refuge

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

“Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea:

“Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.”

Psalm 46:1-3

There you go, even back in ancient times with the psalmists themselves they entertained the thought of the earth being removed and the mountains shaking and going into the sea; the waters roaring and swelling. 

Sounds like a cataclysmic event to me.

Sounds like us, doesn’t it? We imagine things like this happening to us in our time today. We even have movies going further and putting into pictures what we have not even thought of, at least I have not even thought of – like planets colliding with us – and so on and so forth, to even  immobilized us to fear.

We get our imaginations going to a point were we start thinking of a way of escape and salvation. Some people I heard dig up holes in the ground and make a bomb shelter, some stock up on food, some move up to the mountains up in the western side of America for shelter. Even my own husband had talked about moving up there too - "Just in case".

But thank God for the true answer to all these fears and dreads – God! Himself! 

Again, He is the only source of salvation.  There's no one else who is going to save us and comfort us when a cataclysmic event like we imagine happens. 

I want to be connected to Him.

It’s good to prepare for all these “calamity” I supposed. But in the end, I want God to be my salvation. I want to have peace in the process. 

And actually on that note, I don’t even want to worry about it, period. If there’s really going to be a terrible thing that’s going to happen I would like to make sure first He's going to be there for me and hear His voice. I want to know whether I live or die, He's going to be there for me. Because  can you imagine trying to save yourself when something terrible happens and you don't hear the voice of God? Or His assurances? I mean talk about fear, indeed!

Anyway, all this getting myself worked up is foolish and stressful. I do not like it at all. I’d rather have peace with the Lord. And then I’d rather pray He shows me whether I should prepare for it or not. Ha.Ha.

I remember one day I was going nuts about the “possibilities” of disasters; and you know what the Lord told me, “All is well.” Meaning, He is still in control and there’s nothing to be worrying myself about.

Oh, thank you, Jesus!

And we see that the psalmist himself had that assurance. He said, "We're not going to be afraid even if the earth is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea." Talk about confidence in God! 

Imagine the earth being removed? And mountains going into the midst of the sea? And having confidence we're going to be all right?

Well! That's how it should be! 

We should not be worrying about the "What ifs" and getting ourselves all worked up. God is in control. God will be our refuge and our strength. He will not leave us nor forsake us.

And anyway, didn't He say in the book of Matthew, not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself? He said, "Sufficient is the evil day thereof." 

So why do we worry? I don't know. It must be because it's the human nature to try to survive. But see, the Lord knows we want to survive. That's why He wants us to look to Him.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”