With all our daily struggles for perfection, we still fall. Sometimes, we find ourselves in unbelievable situations and conditions. Most times, we feel it is the end of the world but God is right where we are. He is able literally lift us up and he put all the broken piece of our life together. His love for us is a constant. It does not change! It is unconditional.
The fact that he will forgive if only we ask, should leave us with no other reason but to forgive ourselves and accept His forgiveness. He reminds us in 1 Cor 5 vs 17 that behold all things are new. And yes, He sure does make all things new.
Romans 3 vs 23 says "all have sinned and falling short of the honor of God", Another passage states that "if we say we do not have any iniquity we lie". This clear shows that in one way or the other we have our own blunders. What might be a big deal to me.. may be nothing to you vice-versa. However, in the presence of God.. there is not big or small sin- all are equally called SIN. Jesus paid the ultimate price for it too! He gave his life!
Forgive yourself- We are not perfect, but working everyday with a perfect God to achieve his perfection. Nothing we are or will be is related to our action! It is purely the GRACE OF GOD
God sees the beauty in my imperfection and He sees the same in you. Embrace his love and accept His forgiveness.
It is almost impossible not to recognize an anointing when you see it. Rhema Marvanne caught my attention while browsing through Yahoo. "Seven years old gospel singer wows web"! I knew they had to be something about this girl for her to be featured on Yahooo- "gospel singer??"
Went on to listen to her song and it was amazing... Read her story and it brought tears to my eyes. It all reminded me of my famous saying," NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, WHAT YOU DO, WHAT YOU FACE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE JESUS IN YOUR BOAT BECAUSE HE ALONE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE"
After loosing her mother to Ovarian Cancer- even the sky is not the limit to what God is about to do in her life:)
I pray her ministry grows and she continues to grow in wisdom and in the fear of God, touching as many lives as possible. AMEN!
I woke up this morning, got dressed for church as usual. As I walked to my car, I thought about how church was going to be, the praise team that will be on and the person who will minister. As I taught about this, I felt this heavy burden on my heart (something has been missing). I felt that I just go to church because it was Sunday and it was what I was used to. I got to my car and I had to hurry to pick up a friend so I won’t be late.
Got to church, praise and worship was on. I love the song I heard when I walked in. With excitement in me I started singing along. After a few more songs the worship leader stopped and asked us to really focus on God and give him a really worship. He said it was easily to become complacent because the songs are familiar or are ones we sing all the time. He encouraged everyone to focus on worshiping not just with our lips but with out hearts as well.
In Psalm 81:10b, God instructs me, "Open wide your mouth and I will fill it." He will give me what to say today. What to say in happy moments. What to say in aggravating moments. What to say in moments where I feel insecure and what to say when I feel completely confident. What to say in disappointing moments. What to say in response to questions
Remind me that sometimes it is good to keep my mouth closed and say nothing at all.
All the words that rumble about in my brain and those that will proceed out of my mouth, Lord, You be the author of those.
Psalm 84:1 reminds me that God's dwelling place is lovely. So, God I ask You to dwell in me richly. I want You to be what radiates about me. I want You to be my pretty today.
Not my hair. Not my outfit. Not my efforts. But simply You and Your spirit dancing invisibly about me... shifting a wrong attitude, guarding my words, and whispering constant truths into my heart.
Psalm 86:11 is what I ask the Lord to give me. "Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart..."
Lord, may nothing separate me from You today. Teach me how to choose only Your way today so each step will lead me closer to You. Help me walk by the truth and not my feelings. Help me to keep my heart pure and undivided. Protect me from my own careless thoughts, words and actions. And keep me from being distracted by MY wants, MY desires, MY thoughts on how things should be.
Help me to embrace what comes my way as an opportunity...rather than a personal inconvenience.
And finally, help me to rest in the truth of Psalm 86:13a, "Great is your love toward me."
You already see all the many ways I will surely fall short and mess up. But right now, I consciously tuck Your whisper of absolute love for me into the deepest part of my heart. I recognize Your love for me is not based on my performance. You love me warts and all.
Sometimes I find myself in a place where I need to choose or decide between two very good options. Now these decisions do not have to do with anything being ungodly. It is not a decision whether to tell the truth or lie, neither is it about loving or hating. It is nothing evil.
There are life decisions we are faced with everyday such as should what type of industry should I work in? What schools should my kids attend? What car should I buy? What city should I move to? These questions have two equally good options. I have heard a number of times that after the decision to surrender you life to God, choosing you life partner is a very crucial decision that if missed, could mare you for life. In situations like this a girl or guy may be faced with deciding between two guys or girls respectively. These are the kind of decisions I’m talking about.
Now there are the basic things we have to ensure that we consider before making any decision such as ---- is the decision I'm making in line with God's words, does it glorify Him? What’s the motive behind these decisions? Now you could answer all these questions and yes the two options you are faced with, either of them have equal opportunity of providing what you want and you will not be disobeying God by doing either of them.
SO NOW WHAT???? How do I decide what course to read in the university- when both of them will land me in a good paying job? How do I decide what city to move to? - When either Calgary or Toronto look like very good options. Also I have two girls or guys (depending on who is reading) to choose from- they both seem to meet my basic requirements-- so what next?
I'm scared to do anything that is out of God's will for me. Now all the above needs mentioned are all good things we aspire to get. The bible even says that we will not lack any good thing... (There you go.. a bible verse to back up your prayers) However, the bible does not specifically say Calgary over Toronto or engineering over law or does it mention that Samantha will make a better wife than Ruth.
So how do we go about making all these tough decisions we are faced everyday?? How do you do it? How do you ensure that you are making the right decision- that is according to God's will for your life as well?
There are people God clearly speaks to even today as He did back in the day. You and I will know that those were unique experiences- even in the bible. God only spoke clearly to few people in the manner he spoke to Abraham and other prophets. Other heard from Him in various ways (please share yours- someone might just be waiting to verify if God is speaking)
You have prayed, you have fasted, you have listened yet-- God has not called your name yet to clearly state what course you should read or who you should marry (and all the other decisions you may have to make). So what next?
I personally think it all comes down to our individuality. One man’s meat is another man's poison. God has created us uniquely, with very unique life plans. In a situation like this it is time for us to be truthful with ourselves. One thing I have come to learn is that we do not just find it easy to lie to other people most times but it is super easy for us to lie to ourselves.
Now what do I mean- you’re trying to decide between Engineering or Medicine- you clearly have serious hatred and dislike for mathematics yet you want to force yourself into engineering... (You are so on your own) Biology might not be your best friend but other course. Buying a Benz or a Toyota-- your bank account and circumstances surrounding you has the answer to this- yet it is a benz you want ( you really can’t afford it). Samantha is Godly, Ruth is Godly however in other basic things like cleanliness, family values and expectation- Samantha is on another spectrum from you ( yet her beauty ...hmmm :D) Ruth has similar principles like you do ( not as beautiful as Sam). She is too quiet for you and overly critical. Which do you choose? I'm sure you get my drift. There are numerous scenarios out there that make it difficult for one to make the decision.
Given the above scenarios and many more we face every day, all you can really ask God for is WISDOM to make the right choice because sometimes even when God helps us decide, we find it hard to obey or we start asking if it is really God speaking.. If we do not personally decide to go a particular direction God will not force us. (Tho sometimes he does- which is when it hurts) but most times he lets us learn our lessons on our own (true story: D).
WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING- wisdom to be able to see things the way God sees it. Wisdom to understand who we are - our strengths and weaknesses. Wisdom to truly understand what we want out of life. The things we can tolerate and those we can’t. Wisdom to know when to quit and when to persevere and many more.
WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING--- lets go for it and let’s ask for it every day and every step of the way.
Please share your decision making process- for some tough decisions you have had to make and lets all learn from each other
With all our daily struggles for perfection, we still fall. Sometimes, we find ourselves in unbelievable situations and conditions. Most times, we feel it is the end of the world but God is right where we are. He is able literally lift us up and he put all the broken piece of our life together. His love for us is a constant. It does not change! It is unconditional.
