For His Name's Sake

Oh for this heart to feel free before Him. To be able to stand blameless and feel good for carrying His the robe of righteousness upon us. Nothing else will do...nothing else can compensate. Doing the right thing and being right before Him is the inward cry of every heart. And for the trials and temptations that come our way to challenge us in this life's path. Oh for the courage and grace to do His will is the greatest privilege that His Spirit can bestow...

Praise be to His name
Praise be to the Lord for His strength and grace

May we be able to cry out in every circumstance

Psalm 23:3 (NASB)
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

Being in His Will

Sometime during the course of life, we may face a dilemma as what to do to be in line with God's will. For most instances of life, the Word of God is clear on God's will and in some cases such as a job or city/country we may desire to relocate, there may not be a clear direction. However, as long as we desire to do His will and be in the center of His will, God will clearly show what to do or indicate the course of direction we need to take. That is why the Psalmist cried out...

Psalm 86:11 (NLT)
Teach me your ways, O Lord,
that I may live according to your truth!
Grant me purity of heart,
so that I may honor you.

The peace that we get by being in the center of God's will cannot be bought at any cost. The pleasures of this world cannot give that peace. It is only God who can give us that peace and that we can afford to have that only when we remain in His will or do His will...Amen.

Taking God at His Word

One of the key characters of people of God is to take God at His word. Many became heroes of the Bible by taking God at His word. Abraham took God at His word initially, when God told Abraham that he will have a son (Gen 15:4). However, when Abraham's wife Sarah saw that she bore him no children, she drafted a plan B and tried to fulfill God's promise through Hagar, the outcome of which was Ishamael that turned out to be bitter for Sarah. If we could only learn to take God at His word and wait for Him to fulfill His promises for us, we will save ourselves from much of heart aches.

You may ask what it is to take God at His word?
If you believe the below scripture and do not doubt in your heart even a bit then you know what it is to take God at His word....

Hebrews 11:3 (NASB)
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

If our faith is simple enough to believe what God is telling us straight, that is faith and we will until it becomes sight...

Dare to Believe

How easy it is for us to believe the promises of God especially when we are not in challenging situations. For instance, it may not be difficult for us to believe that the Lord provides all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil 4: 19) when we are holding good jobs. However, it will be difficult for us to believe and acknowledge His promise in tough and challenging situations. 

When we know that in some situation we need purely but a miracle, we will easily forget God's promise which says that God can do much more than we think or ask (Eph 3:20) and go about life by working things with our limited strength, knowledge and the best of our limited intellect...sarcastic isn't it?

Are we people who will believe God's word according to our convenience? Or do we dare to believe His word no matter the situation? Do we have the daring faith like the heroes of the Bible in Hebrews 11...

If yes, than I am sure you will acknowledge and claim this promise of God for your life and situation...

Ephesians 3:20 (NASB)

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

And believe me He will only do that which is good for us ...and not as per our whims and fancies. Let us make sure our heart, will and desires are right before God. Amen.

Avoiding Disappointments

If we look at our frustrations and disappointments, why we often fall prey to these... we can understand that it because of unmet expectations or plans that has failed. It is no way wrong to plan or to expect something good and positive. However, after having prayed and submitted to the Lord, if what we expect or plan does not happen, we get discouraged, disappointed and even frustrated.

Apostle Paul offers a solution to escape unnecessary disappointments and frustrations...

1 Corinthians 7:31-32 (Amplified Bible)
31.And those who deal with this world [overusing the enjoyments of this life] as though they were not absorbed by it and as if they had no dealings with it. For the outward form of this world (the present world order) is passing away. 32.My desire is to have you free from all anxiety and distressing care.

If we don't attach ourselves much to our expectations and plans and place it in the hands of God knowing that none of His good will towards us can be thwarted, then we can always learn to hold our peace...

My Rock, My strength

I like the statement of the Welsh preacher who says "There are many occasions when I tremble as I stand upon the Rock, but there are never any occasions when the Rock trembles under me" (EDWJ). What an encouragement this is to each of us. When we stand on our Rock Jesus, we may go through life situations which makes us tremble or overwhelm us. But to know that the Rock on which we stand is firm and will never tremble (though we may) is a blessed assurance to our souls.

May we find courage in the midst of our trembling and say like the Psalmist did in 

Psalm 28:8 (KJV)

The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, to know that I stand on you, my Rock and that I will not fall is a great strength to my soul. May you uphold me as I trust in You. Amen.

Waiting with Joy

Many dislike the idea of waiting (myself included). We get so irritated when waiting for small things. We still don't like the idea of waiting for major life things such as a job, marriage, new business to accelerate, etc.

Waiting on the Lord to give us a breakthrough in life's major aspect is tough. For years, right from the time I came into the Lord, I have a had a burning desire to serve Him and took a step of faith in every opened door. However, I saw that none of them endured or say persisted on a long run leaving me wondering if I had mistaken His will for me...

Waiting on the Lord for years left my soul wearied and I willfully forgot all His promises or call which I believed was mine. Recently, during this year the Lord renewed my passion to serve Him by reminding me of His promises, at the same time the Lord helped me learn a wonderful life lesson which I am in the process of learning now. All these years, as I waited on the Lord, the waiting was not a joyful experience. I waited on the Lord with faith, but when nothing happened especially when I my thoughts and ideas didn't not work out as I expected I was disappointed and hence waited with regret.

I learnt that when we wait with joy, no matter whether things work out or not, I know that He is working out His best in me and will do His best through me (and for me). I don't need to strive hard for Him to use me or meet my need. I just need to be available, be sensitive to Him and yield. I understood that His desire to use me surpasses my desire to serve Him. I have no regrets waiting for Him. I have learnt to wait for Him with joy...Amen.

Isaiah 30:18 The Message (MSG)

But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you.

He's gathering strength to show mercy to you.

God takes the time to do everything right—everything.

Those who wait around for him are the lucky ones.