Be Encouraged!

I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:13,14 KJV)

Sometimes it would appear that your enemies are winning. People are believing the lies about you, speaking evil against you, and sabotaging every good thing you try to do. Take heart because God is faithful. He will keep you through the trials and tests. One scripture states that He won't suffer your foot to be moved. He has you right where He wants you, and no one can alter that.

You have a work to do, and God will uphold you with His righteous right hand until that work is complete. Walk on by faith, knowing that you are safe in God's hands. Follow His guidance step by step and day by day. Don't allow the negative to cause you to faint. Don't let your haters see you shaken. Rest in the Lord; wait on Him. Let the naysayers strengthen your resolve for pure excellence in whatever you do.

Hang in there! God's got this one! He will vindicate you in due season. Trust that if God gave you the vision, the way is already made to accomplish it. Just wait on Him to bring it to pass. Be encouraged!

What's Blocking Your View?

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Isaiah 6:1 (NLT)

The sixth chapter of Isaiah is a wonderful peak at the glory of God, and I am sure you've heard it preached time and time again. Let's take a moment to focus on just the first verse, and explore it a little bit. What I love about the Word of God is that He will give you a new revelation for the same passage of scripture every time you read it. The Word is truly alive and active.

Why did Isaiah see the Lord in the year King Uzziah died? King Uzziah must have been in the way! He must have been larger than life at the time, and had too much emphasis placed on himself and/or his kingship. Any time we place all of our attention on anything or anyone else, we lose sight of God. He is still there, but we allow smaller, less important things to block our view of His majesty and glory.

We get sidetracked with the cares of this world (i.e. jobs, houses, cars, education), when our primary focus should be on Christ, the solid rock. Matthew admonishes us to be kingdom minded, and everything else will fall into place (6:33). Those high places in our lives need to be brought down, so that we can see God's glory. God has not and will not change. He is still holy! His very nature demands our reverence, and our undivided attention. What in your life is keeping you from focusing on the everlasting God? What is blocking your view of God's throne, high and lifted up? It's time to evaluate and purge those things hindering your relationship with your heavenly father. Uzziah must die in order for you to see God!

Give Him Glory!

Revelation 4:11(KJV) "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

Sometimes we should praise God just because!  We praise Him for this and for that, but how often do we just give Him glory merely because He is worthy?  I am challenging you, as well as myself to do just that this week.  He does what He does because He is who He is ("I am that I am," as God so eloquently put it to Moses).  We say we are seeking His face, and I believe we honestly try, but sometimes we just fall short of that goal.  We seek His stuff or His blessings, rather than just giving Him glory and honor.

Sure, we all have needs that we must bring before the Lord because He asked us to cast our cares on Him.  I am suggesting that we come to Him for blessings and miracles more than we come to Him to bless His name.  There should be a balance between our prayers of supplication, intercession, praise, and thanksgiving.  We need to be more mindful of how much we are requesting versus how much we are giving.  How dare we come before God to ask Him for anything before we have honored Him with the fruit of our lips!  Why do we ask for something ELSE on the heels of some miracle He has worked in our lives without first thanking Him for what He's already done?

Take a moment to consider your current prayers.  If you are doing more praising than asking, praise God all the more!  If like me, your prayers are unbalanced, make a conscious effort not to ask God for anything for at least the first half of your prayer time.  Come to Him with words of praise and adoration.  Call out His attributes to Him.  "God, you're worthy; Lord, you're awesome; There's none like You; Father, I love you; Jesus, I thank you!"  Take this challenge with me, and I'd love to hear your testimonies of how it worked out!
 

Sometimes Overwhelmed by Life?

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.(Psalm 61:1-4 KJV)

These words never fail to comfort me when faced with adversity. It seems sometimes I would faint, but God strengthens me to stand. I encourage you today to relax under God's wings. He loves you, and wants only the best for you. Occasionally God has to forceably remove harmful things from our lives, and it may hurt at the time. Fire purifies, not only destroys. Trust that God has your future in mind, and He knows best.

You will look back on what you thought was the worst time in your life, and you will discover how much you've grown from that time, how venomous relationships ended, and how more beneficial things landed in your path since then. Choose to seek God with all your heart, and He will strengthen that heart. Please understand that brokeness is what God uses to bring wholeness.

When your heart is overwhelmed, cry out to God to lead you to the rock (Jesus). Spend time in prayer, praise, and worship. God wants to take you somewhere, but you have to surrender your desires, your plans, and yourself. Yield to God's direction for your life, and get out of your flesh. Stop looking at your reality, and look at God's ability. It seems I say that a lot these days, but there really is nothing too hard for God. We get overwhelmed, but He doesn't. We get surprised by life's happenings, but He doesn't. We get discouraged, but He doesn't. Take comfort in the words penned in Psalm 61. God has His hands on you!