The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
1 John 2:15-17
As Augustine rightly stated, living a life without God will surely lead to a dead end. King David was of the same thought when he stated in Psalm 14 “ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”
One of the major culprits that lead a man not to love God is the love for this world, love for what is sensual, what gives that temporary high in life, always seeking for the next best new thing but never satisfying that inner longing, which only God can fulfill.
As John said in the above scripture, there can never be space for both the love for the world and love for the Father, that does not mean we need to renounce to anything that the Lord blesses us with but anything pertaining to this world should never come even close to the love we portray to the Father and we should always be willing to part from anything that is material.
The Gospel is not about getting more, the Gospel is about getting to know more about the Father and His will so that we will live by His grace and fulfill all He planned for our lives, being content with what we have.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
(Isaiah 55:8)
A scripture which partners with Proverbs 3:5-6, which invites us to trust in the Lord and not on our own understanding. Yes many our thoughts abd understanding are based on the temporal, experiences we faced and perceptions we grasp, many of which are not based on facts but are speculations, distorting the truth and therefore not allowing us to make the right decisions.
Today’s scripture is giving us a clear picture why we should not trust in our own undestanding but trust the wisdom of our God. God’s wisdom is eternal and nothing takes Him by surprise. He has it all figured out. What a contrast when we compare it with our own understanding. Our God is not only the God of our yesterday, but also of today abd He is the Lord of our tomorrow too and that is one simple yet valid reason why we should rely on Him rather than on what we think.
That is why we experience rest in the Lord as He dies not only know what our future holds but by giving Him the Lordship of our lives, we will allow Him to activate His plans for us to prosper for the glory of His Name. (Jer 29:11)
Thank you Lord for your wisdom, which you made available for us to rely on. Many times we are tempted to react to our circumstances but today we are understanding that is not the way we should live. Give us a deeper revelation of what it means to be moved not by what we feel or think, but only by Your promises. This we pray in Jesus Name, Amen.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
(Hebrews 10:23)
Security is what we long for, yet many times we search for it in what is tangible, in what society or those around us offer, leading to disappointments, frustration and failures.
We strive to seek financial stability and enroll into one or multiple insurance policies, while this post is not to condemn all this, our true, unshakeable security should only be sought in the ONE who is faithful, Jesus Christ, the author of our being and perfector of our faith.
Jesus is the one who makes stromy seas still. He is the one who tells us “All will be ok”, nothing and no one takes Him by surprise and there is no plan B for HIM as what He declares, is. He can do all things but at the same time, He is bound to what His Word says. Since He is a covenant God, we can trust His promises. God is no politician, today he says something, only to u-turn a couple of days later.
Having such a blessed assurance in His promises, let us make sure we know His promises by heart so that we allow the Holy Spirit to remind us of such promises right when we need to activate them in our lives and hold fast to our confession of hope without wavering, for He who promised is always faithful.
Thank you Heavenly Father for your faithfulness which is our blessed assurance. Help us Lord to diligently seek your promises as we ask you to reveal them to us as you inscribe them on our hearts so that when we need them, we can resort to them and bring them to life by our confession of faith as we live are moved by them and not by what we see or feel. This we pray, in Jesus mighty Name, Amen.
Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:25-33)
This scripture has so many lessons one can draw out of it, but one of the major ones is “focus”.
Once Peter was focusing on Jesus, he was able to do the impossible, defying nature, once he lost his focus and got distracted by the storm around him, he started to sink, till he came back to his senses and asked Jesus to save him.
This should be an invaluable lesson for us. What is the main focus of our life? Is it the circumstance that are currently facing or are we focused on the One who is able to help us overcome the circumstance?
Saturating our lives with God’s Word would help us focus on its author. Worship and thanks giving are two other powerful weapons to help us calibrate our focus on Jesus and they should a constant in our lives no to allow the ceaseless attacks of the enemy have their way in our lives.
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us these weapons which we can use to fine-tune our focus on Jesus. Help us Holy Spirit to quickly enter into His presence so that we will not allow any seed of the enemy take root in our lives, so that we can be able to walk on the storms of our lives as we give glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, and in His Name we pray, Amen.
If Jesus is the Alpha and Omega (Beginning and the End), so is His Word, we should start, continue and end with it, our life’s core, the measuring stick of all our decisions and the motive of all our actions, as with Christ, so in His Word, we should live, move and have our being…..
“My (Jesus) sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.” (John 10:27-30)
Through these words I can feel the passion and deep love Jesus has for all those who surrendered their lives to HIM, his sheep. Let us sheep learn to hear HIS voice and follow it at all cost, whatever the cost, it is much more worthwhile paying it because the rewards are far superior.
To all those who still do not know Jesus in a personal way, the gate is open and the shepherd is calling you, He desires to shower you with His unfailing love. I know you can feel the call, all you need to do is surrender your life into His hands. He wants to bless you abundantly. Tomorrow is not ours, today is the day…..do not keep holding back, great things are ahead to each and everyone who surrenders his or her life to Jesus.
Psalm 1
Being in this world but not of this world. Say no to ungodliness and yes to all that delights the Lord. All this makes part of sanctification, which is described in this Psalm as a tree which is deeply rooted beside streams of water. Implying that a life seeking holiness, will be secure, strong (unshakable) and most of all able to bear good fruit. The fruit of the spirit.
On the other hand there are those who choose to ignore the Word of God or who are unwilling to let go of the pleasures of this world. If they persist in this life, judgement is assured over them, described in this psalm as chaff in the wind, implying powerless will, unprotected, vulnerable, no sense of purpose and direction.
The psalm ends with a promise. The paths of those who pursue holiness and rightousness will be secured in the Lord’s protection, while those who choose to remain unrepented will be heading to ruins. A life leading to a dead end and eternal damnation.
Good morning 🙂
Let us spend some precious time with the Lord in prayer during the last day of the year to praise HIM and thank HIM for all the things that happened during this year both good and bad as both bring forth fruit and experiences of HIS unfailing love.
We also need to seek HIM for the new year, may it be one of selflessness as we truly understand the meaning of living for the glory of GOD and to see others better than ourselves. May all we do for the Lord’s Kingdom bare for fruit which will magnify the Name of the Most High God.
I am just ready for this journey since I know God is in the control room of my train, are you ready too?
May God bless your new year !!!
It's the truth that sets you free 