What a blessedness to know the sovereign Lord of all has made personal time for us, to come near where we are, to hear the pleas and the cries of our hearts. Don’t bypass this time. Don’t waste this treasure. Hold on to the grace that grants us access to the throne where we can unload every care, burden, and trouble; every worry, fear, and hope. This is such a special meeting. Thank You, Lord, for gracing me with Your presence and attending.
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Incomplete really speaks to the idea that I, we, us, don’t really have it all together like we think we do at times. We often feel so short from where we need to be; from where God wants us that we can sense a dragging of lack in our spirits. If we were really honest with ourselves we would see within us the deficit our humanity brings without any real way of adding up to that holy mark of perfection our soul so desperately longs for. If left to ourselves and our own ingenuity we would find that we are an incomplete mess.
But, thanks be to God that our completeness is not dependent upon us. Rather, it is in Christ alone where we find everything that makes us one hundred percent whole in Him. In our relationship with Jesus as our Savior, there is no lack. The Bible assures us, “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:” (Colossians 2:10). On the cross, Jesus secured everything we need to have a full relationship with God Almighty, leaving nothing out. Jesus Christ really does become more than enough for believers to rest in His salvation. Through Calvary’s sacrifice, Jesus turned our incomplete mess into something completely beautiful.
We may feel like we’re not there yet, but we are being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:17). Like a caterpillar in transition to becoming a butterfly, I can’t wait to see the beautiful end results of what we all will be in Christ Jesus.
More encouraging verses:
2 Corinthians 3:5 “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.”
John 1:16 “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.”
Colossians 1:19 “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.”
Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic). See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.
“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth,” Genesis 9:13
I remember a few years ago, I woke up the morning feeling, well . . . . blah!!! I had a headache, no energy, not feeling really with it. It was a hard week and it was taking its toll on my body. Since I have some days like that this week I decided to write about it again.
I remember I was looking for something to wear and I reached into my closet and pulled out a white shirt (black and white shirts are a standby for me because they usually don’t have to be ironed 🙂 – telling on myself, I know). But, even though it didn’t need to be ironed, I put it back declaring, in my dreariness, that I needed a pop of color.
As I was going through the drudgery of ironing my pop of color I wondered to myself if that’s why God made His covenant with Noah and all the earth in the form of a rainbow. After the rains and the storms of life, after the hardships and turmoils, after being tossed about to and fro, maybe we all need that “PROMISE IN A POP OF COLOR!”
We all need that beautiful colorful, covenant to gaze upon to let us know that everything is going to be alright.
Today, we are nearing the end of the week. And, if your week has been like mine I send out to you this “PROMISE IN A POP OF COLOR!” God is letting us know, EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT!
God bless you!
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One of our most famous struggles in life is with doubt. We have faith in and for others. We believe God to the fullest. Yet, doubt seeks to rob us in another area. It’s when we allow thoughts of inferiority to enter our space. It’s when we let the insecurity we experience on the inside come to the surface and convince us we are not enough.
We know that God is good. And, we know He is awesome in everything He does. But, when it comes to convincing ourselves of what He can do in and through us we have a hard time accepting that truth in our lives because something or someone has caused us to believe we don’t measure up; we don’t have what it takes to adequately pursue what God has placed on the inside of us.
One Bible verse that has recently helped me overcome that low-level thinking; thinking that keeps your hopes and dreams submerged in the sea of doubt is this: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1:6). Meaning God will finish what He started in you and He will keep on working on you until that day of Jesus Christ.
A lot of us, as the young people today say, feel some type of way about where they are in life right now. They are viewing their lives through the lens of the journey rather than the destination. All that God wants to do through us and for us will always be a continuing and evolving work. We as long as we are on the face of this earth can never say that we have arrived. We will never fully meet our destination point until we are face to face with Jesus.
But, already knowing where our destination finishes should give us hope for the journey. Rather, we tend to let the journey disappoint us; we let the journey decide for us what our future will turn out to be like, telling us what we are and what we’re worth.
Our journey shouldn’t be a measure of stress or discouragement causing seeds of doubt to be planted about what God has placed in you. Your journey is the process that’s taking you in the direction of your destination. And, I don’t care who’s doing this or that over there or here – God still has His hands on us. God is still working on the behalf of His children. God is still perfecting and performing stuff in our lives. God still has a glorious future up ahead for each one of us if we will just believe, hold on, and wait through the process of His performance in us.
So, the truth about self-doubt is this: God is not finished with you yet. Standing at the sink, brushing my teeth, this is what God dropped in my heart with the verse above. Your journey is still moving. Your story is not over. You are not in a race to live in comparison with others. You are a follower of His lead until you become everything He has designed you to be. As long as you are alive and kicking, His purpose in you is alive and kicking. Don’t count yourself out.
Another truth about self-doubt is this: it’s not about whether we think we are good enough. It’s about the good He is able to do in us (another God-inspired thought). You are more than what your journey appears to be. You are measured by your destination. You are measured by Jesus Christ inside of you leading to your destination; drawing you to trust Him in everything He is calling you to be. If He has placed something wonderful in you, He will bring it to pass. Just believe and hope in Him. For in Him is where your real self-worth is found. Therefore, since your worth is in Him and He is the one perfecting and performing your process, don’t doubt yourself and what God is able to do in you and through you. You are so much more than the doubt!
Follow God and He will make your life shine. We can either choose to be molded to the image of the world; to people’s ideas. Or, we can allow God free and open access of our being that He might make something gloriously wonderful out of this life He has given us.
Watch . . .
Stand fast in the faith . . .
Be brave . . .
Be strong . . .
Operate in love. . .
“And Abimelech said unto Issac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we,” Genesis 26:16
Oh, how wonderful we feel when God opens the windows of heaven and pours out blessings into our lives, Micah 3:10. It feels good! And, it doesn’t matter if the blessing is material, physical, spiritual, or emotional, if there is something that God wants to do that is special for us, we take joy in receiving from the goodness of our heavenly Father.
One of my favorite verses that keeps me in check and reminds me of just how awesome He is in this area is Matthew 7:9-11. In the verses before these Jesus is teaching His disciples a few of life’s lessons. He just assured them of the “ask, seek, and knock” principle of prayer. Then, to make sure they understood how much the heavenly Father cares He further explains, “Or what man of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”
God knows how to give good gifts! The problem with that is everybody is not going to like you for it. Everyone is not going to be on your side. There will be one, if not more, that will be standing in the corner, grimacing every time God decides to shower you with some of His goodness. It’s sad but true!
Human nature can get almost primal in this area. If you throw a bone to a pack of hungry dogs, what will happen? Only one dog will actually catch the bone, but the others will be on a continual mission to take it from him because they want it for themselves. They’re hungry for it. They want to be fed, too. It’s not fair that the one got the blessing and the rest didn’t. And so, another dog will try to latch onto it to yank and pull it away from the original owner. Another also steps in and tries to get it from the previous two. And on, and on it goes. Until one is successful to lie hold of it and run to safety.
I’ve seen this play out with seagulls also. You throw a piece of bread out for one and suddenly there are what seem to be a hundred gulls thinking they can all survive off of that one piece. They swoop down to grab the bread and try to fly away with the prize, only another has his eye on it and does the same. It becomes a never-ending circle of desire and wants that moves to the contentions of, “If I can’t have it, neither can you.” Swoop! It’s mine!
The same scenario played out for Isaac. God was keeping His promise that He made to Abraham and his son was reaping the rewards of it. God had truly blessed Isaac. “Then Isaac sowed in the land and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants…” (Genesis 26:12-14).
He was blessed! But, the remainder of verse 14 clearly states that not everyone was happy about it. It says, “And the Philistines envied him.” They then put into motion a plan to try to hold down his blessings. “For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth,” (Genesis 26:15). As they stopped up the wells their hope was to stop the blessings.
Afterward, the king of the Philistines, Abimelech, just out and out told him, “We don’t want you here anymore – get out!” If they can’t stop the blessings then they don’t want to be around you while God is blessing. Why? Because it hurts to see some receive and some don’t. Humanity doesn’t like it like that, unless, of course, they are the ones on the receiving end of it.
It’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ve been on both sides of this fence: the side of being blessed and the side of watching others get blessed. Oftentimes, I didn’t always understand, but that’s just the way it was. Like it or not, I have to believe in God’s sovereignty over it all. Did it always register right away? Um, no. For I am human also and don’t always see things as God does. (If I’m going to write about it, I have to be totally honest about it.)
So, it shouldn’t surprise us that as God moves on our behalf to elevate us and bless us, that contentions can arise. What do we do then? First and foremost, is to trust God. After being kicked out, Isaac went from one well to another, there was always a fight with someone about it. Isaac could’ve gotten ticked off, but he kept trying to find where God was leading. Just because you are blessed by God doesn’t mean you can settle anywhere. You have to be where God wants you in order to continue to grow in Him. That requires trust.
Eventually, Genesis 26:22 tells us, “And he removed from thence, and digged another well; and for that they strove not… For now the LORD hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.” If one keeps following the leading of God, God, in turn, will put you in a place where the gifts and blessings He has given you will thrive. You are not going to just flourish anywhere. You have to be where He can ensure your growth.
If that weren’t enough, God made those that hated Isaac to be at peace with him. “We saw certainly that the LORD was with thee… let us make a covenant with thee,” (Genesis 26:28). They came to him. They sought him out to seek reconciliation. How did it all end? Very good, I might say. “And he made them a feast, and they did eat and drink. And they rose up betimes in the morning, and sware one to another: and Isaac sent them away, and they departed from him in peace,” (Genesis 26:30-31). All grudges and animosity were gone and peace entered in.
The Bible says, “the same day, that Isaac’s servants came, and told him concerning the well which they had digged, and said unto him, We have found water,” (Genesis 26:32). This was refreshment for the body and soul after dealing with such contentions. I think that means he was finally where God wanted him to be, in mind, body, and spirit. The water didn’t come until the covenant for peace was made.
When God blesses there will sometimes be contentions to deal with from others. But, we too, have a responsibility in the midst to try to go as God leads us and to still keep the peace.
Copyright © Word For Life Says.com (Sharing any posts or lessons can only be done through the share buttons provided on this site from the original posts, lessons, and articles only. You can reblog from the original posts only using the reblog button provided, or share using the share buttons provided from these social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest, etc., and they must be shared from the original posts only. All other repostings are prohibited. Posts and other items of interest found on this site MAY NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED, downloaded, uploaded, etc to another website or entity not listed (physical or electronic). See COPYRIGHT PAGE for more details.
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