STEP BY STEP With JESUS
We serve a risen Savior,
I know that this is true,
For every path my foot falls on,
The Lord has been there too.
For each of us there comes a time when we have to stop and take stock of our lives. We need to ask the important questions; who am I; what am I doing; and where am I going. I am thankful that for me, all of these questions can be answered in Christ. Who am I? A child of God. What am I doing? Serving Christ. Where am I going? To be with Him one day. How can I be so certain of this? Because with every fiber of my being, I know that He lived, lives and has provided a way, and that He loves...ME!
My God is so gracious that He stooped to carry even me...with all His mighty power...this mere spec upon a planet inside of a trillion light-years worth of stars in space; this sin laden worm, trying and often failing with its tiny feeble might to please Him. He, God, the King and creator of this universe, loves and cares about me. He loves me so much, He has even provided me with everything I need to love Him in return, and do His will. But what pleases Him and what is His will? Simply to believe, trust and obey. Why, because He loves me, all of us. So how do I know?
I was struggling beneath my load and He lifted it and I became a new creature. Then a day came when I thought I'd gone so far away from Him, so far away from His love, that I could no longer feel, or sense His presence. Now I know that all the while He was watching and waiting as I walked, searching for Him, in the palm of His hand. So why hadn't I heard Him? Why didn't I know He was there? Because I simply wasn't looking up. I had stopped praising and thanking Him, because I started doubting His willingness to forgive me.
In my struggle I kept searching for the answer to my dilemma. I would not stop going to church, for to me that would be certain death. I talked with other believers, and turned to ministers for advice, but I barely bent a knee to Him. So great was my grief in believing I had let Him down, that I couldn't. It was kind of like asking your brothers and sisters if your dad will ever forgive you, 'cause you're too scared to ask him yourself. Looking back, how could I not trust the word of a God who gave His only begotten son, so that He could forgive me. Yet, in the midst of it all, God has been gracious in never letting my candle go completely out. All the while He carried me.
Every now and then I would hear Him, or a wisp of comfort would press into my heart and mind. God isn't the rushing wind, He's that still small voice. Once, it was a thought that sometimes God reprimands us with a hug. Imagine that. I was stunned, but a friend later confirmed it by relating an example with her son, saying sometimes he didn't need to be scolded. He was already punishing himself enough. God knows our thoughts, regrets and sorrows. He knows what we need, just like this merciful mother, only abundantly more so. God was waiting for me to call on Him and recognize where I was going wrong, and simply look up. I didn't need to run, just open my heart in repentance, faith and prayer, and trust His promise that He was still there; and above all thank Him for it. All I needed to do was take Him at His Word and push away the negative thoughts, as others had encouraged me to do. This is a profound, yet simple truth!
He tells us in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things," but each thought needs to meet all of these qualifications, not just one. I know this now, because the first time I tried it; the first time I decided not to dwell on a negative thought and pushed against it, it was gone and He was right there filling my heart with warmth and peace. It was like being buried in His loving embrace. God cares and He cares about the thoughts we think about. We cannot win the battles of this life while we are dwelling on giants. We need to keep our eyes focused on Christ and what He did for us...on how mighty is our God. The tales in the Bible of His amazing miracles and power, even before Christ, are there for a reason.
My God is so gracious that He stooped to carry even me...with all His mighty power...this mere spec upon a planet inside of a trillion light-years worth of stars in space; this sin laden worm, trying and often failing with its tiny feeble might to please Him. He, God, the King and creator of this universe, loves and cares about me. He loves me so much, He has even provided me with everything I need to love Him in return, and do His will. But what pleases Him and what is His will? Simply to believe, trust and obey. Why, because He loves me, all of us. So how do I know?
I was struggling beneath my load and He lifted it and I became a new creature. Then a day came when I thought I'd gone so far away from Him, so far away from His love, that I could no longer feel, or sense His presence. Now I know that all the while He was watching and waiting as I walked, searching for Him, in the palm of His hand. So why hadn't I heard Him? Why didn't I know He was there? Because I simply wasn't looking up. I had stopped praising and thanking Him, because I started doubting His willingness to forgive me.
In my struggle I kept searching for the answer to my dilemma. I would not stop going to church, for to me that would be certain death. I talked with other believers, and turned to ministers for advice, but I barely bent a knee to Him. So great was my grief in believing I had let Him down, that I couldn't. It was kind of like asking your brothers and sisters if your dad will ever forgive you, 'cause you're too scared to ask him yourself. Looking back, how could I not trust the word of a God who gave His only begotten son, so that He could forgive me. Yet, in the midst of it all, God has been gracious in never letting my candle go completely out. All the while He carried me.
Every now and then I would hear Him, or a wisp of comfort would press into my heart and mind. God isn't the rushing wind, He's that still small voice. Once, it was a thought that sometimes God reprimands us with a hug. Imagine that. I was stunned, but a friend later confirmed it by relating an example with her son, saying sometimes he didn't need to be scolded. He was already punishing himself enough. God knows our thoughts, regrets and sorrows. He knows what we need, just like this merciful mother, only abundantly more so. God was waiting for me to call on Him and recognize where I was going wrong, and simply look up. I didn't need to run, just open my heart in repentance, faith and prayer, and trust His promise that He was still there; and above all thank Him for it. All I needed to do was take Him at His Word and push away the negative thoughts, as others had encouraged me to do. This is a profound, yet simple truth!
He tells us in Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things," but each thought needs to meet all of these qualifications, not just one. I know this now, because the first time I tried it; the first time I decided not to dwell on a negative thought and pushed against it, it was gone and He was right there filling my heart with warmth and peace. It was like being buried in His loving embrace. God cares and He cares about the thoughts we think about. We cannot win the battles of this life while we are dwelling on giants. We need to keep our eyes focused on Christ and what He did for us...on how mighty is our God. The tales in the Bible of His amazing miracles and power, even before Christ, are there for a reason.
I am writing this to remind myself and hopefully others, of several things I heard recently, because faith comes from hearing. First, God's promises are always, YES! He promises, never to leave us nor forsake us; He is able to keep those that are His; He gives those that are His the Holy Spirit, His comforter to guide us, and comfort us (We need to trust in that comfort when it comes.); that Christ is sufficient for us; and if we ask God to forgive us...HE WILL! God is not a man that He should lie, nor have we "... come to the mountain that might be touched and burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest." Hebrews 12:18. This is God who says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." And to that end He is not willing that any should be lost!
So whoever you are, my friend outside of Christ, seek Him. If you knock, the door will open. And humbly, to my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, who have struggled as I have, remember if we ask him for food, or wisdom, or forgiveness, for the right reasons, He is faithful and just to forgive us and will not give us a stone. We need to trust Him to be the God He says He is and love Him, no matter what He allows in our lives; casting all our cares upon Him, for He careth for us; and thank and praise Him just the same.
In the love of Christ,
Beverly
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