There are two things I’ve been telling myself a lot lately…

* You’re stronger than you feel.
* You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.

I’ve never really had a mantra, but maybe now I do because I can tell you these two sentences have helped me breathe a little easier.

Not because of anything I’ve tried to do, but because of what I know God can do.

On those really rough days when I feel like everything might cave in on me, I remind myself that how I feel can’t always be trusted.

How I feel and what I know to be true don’t always line up.

I might feel weak, but I know God is strong.

When I feel defeated, I know God is never defeated.

“He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.” Isaiah 40:28b-29 NLT

I’m stronger than I feel because God’s strength never runs out.

How I feel depends on what I can see and what I know, but God knows what I don’t. He’s not surprised by events or taken off guard. He knows what’s coming next. He sees it all.

I’m stronger than I feel because God is in control. Every day. All the time. Which means I don’t have to have it all figured out. And what a relief that is because no matter how hard I try, I just can’t.

But God can. He is in the details. No matter how big or small, God knows every bit of His plans.

When I don’t see any possible way, God knows the way.

What looks impossible to me is never impossible for God.

He weaves all the details of life together in ways we can’t imagine or understand. But in ways that astound us and leave us in awe.

I don’t have to have everything figured out before I take the next step because God does have it figured out. He knows where He’s leading me. I just have to follow.

I’m stronger than I feel because God is stronger than I could ever be. And I don’t have to figure it all out because He already has it figured out. Down to the very last detail.

His plan. His way. And His peace that passes all understanding.

“The Lord gives his people strength.
The Lord blesses them with peace.”
Psalms 29:11 NLT

By Laura Rath
used by Permission

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Prayer

Lord, I thank You that believers are receivers and that You are the giver of every good and perfect gift. I thank You that through believing I receive Jesus, salvation, peace, joy, answered prayer, and the power to live a life that pleases You.

Lord, make me a believer who continues to believe, a follower who continues to follow, and a servant who continues to serve. May my belief and trust in You never become a thing of the past. May I never look back or refer to my walk of faith as the “Good old days.” Keep me ever growing, ever moving on in You, ever pressing into Your heart…move me from faith to faith and glory to glory.

May I be a believer who believes Your word and trusts it; who sees Your path and follows it; who knows Your strength and counts upon it; who hears Your voice and follows it; who leans upon You and never pulls away.

Lord, when I obey You, may it be with the belief that Your ways are best; when I worship You, may it be with the belief that You are wholly worthy; when I obey You, may it be with the belief that You will never fail. Help me, Father, not to partially believe, but to fully believe; not to occasionally believe, but to consistently believe; not to reluctantly believe, but to enthusiastically believe.

I pray that what I confess with my mouth will be in agreement with what I believe in my heart. I ask that my life will be a daily witness to the world that I am a believer in your Son, Jesus Christ.

Scriptures: Acts 16:31, 27:25, Matthew 21:22, John 6:29, 11:10, 14:1, 20:31,  Romans 10:9-10, 15:13, Ephesians 1:19, 1 Peter 1:8

by Roy Lessin
used by permission

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“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants” Philippians 2:13

We were at a garden market choosing flowers for our garden. For 49 years of our marriage I have always done this myself because my husband was working at ministry things. This year we did it together and I discovered our preferences are quite different. Not that one was better than the other – just different.

My first inward reaction was that my preference would look better. But the Holy Spirit reminded me that this was my husband’s garden too. So after discussing various options, we came up with a compromise that satisfied both of us. After planting the flowers together, we agreed the flower garden looked great.

Seemingly little things, but this is what life is made of. How we respond to circumstances can make our life enjoyable or not.

God gave me the grace to yield and not argue. Circumstances in our life keep changing which means we have to change as well. We are unable to change without the Holy Spirit’s power. The above promise from Philippians has been so helpful to me. God helps us want to obey Him and then He also gives us the power to do it.

I thought of a statement Dr. Henry Brandt often used in his talks, “Circumstances will always reveal your spirit.”

How are you doing today? Do you need God’s help to change? He is eager to help you – just ask Him.

Are you ready to ask the Holy Spirit to direct your life? Why not pray this simple prayer right now and by faith invite God to fill you with His Spirit:

Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank you that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

by Katherine Kehler
used by permission

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The post Grace to Keep on Yielding appeared first on Thoughts About God.

How long has it been since you let God have you? I mean really have you? How long since you gave him a portion of undiluted, uninterrupted time listening for his voice?

Apparently, Jesus did. He made a deliberate effort to spend time with God. Spend much time reading about the listening life of Jesus and a distinct pattern emerges. He spent regular time with God, praying and listening. Mark 1:35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” Luke tells us, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Let me ask the obvious. If Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless Savior of humankind, thought it worthwhile to clear his calendar to pray, wouldn’t we be wise to do the same?

By Max Lucado
Used by permission
From: Just Like Jesus

To learn more about Max Lucado visit his website at:
https://maxlucado.com/about-max/

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Jesus asks, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46

Is there repercussion for not listening to the Lord?

“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.’” Jeremiah 19:15

Seems like it, doesn’t it?

My prayer for us this week

“Our Lord, our God, our Creator, we come to you and repent of our selfish attitudes and ask that you heal our stiff necks and help us focus on what it is you ask of us. We worship you and you alone. In Jesus name amen and amen.”

by Alec Niemi
used by permission

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“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority”. Colossians 2:9–10

God plants this love inside us, and it grows healthy in the soil of abandonment. We abandon our rights, our judgments, our opinions, and our schemes. Jesus is uncompromising in his abandonment of the privileges of his position as the only begotten son, and he expects no less from us when it comes to abandoning anything that sets us in rebellion to the Father.

Like the man who found treasure hidden in a field, he sells everything he has in order to buy the field. He holds back nothing because he knows the treasure is worth more than anything he has. Abandonment means realizing that following Jesus is worth everything we have and so holding nothing back.

Costly grace requires that we come to the end of ourselves, that we abandon our current lives in order to begin new lives with Jesus. Costly grace means, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Costly grace means we refuse to “set aside the grace of God” for the lesser things of this world (Galatians 2:21).

Abandonment is possible because you have Jesus within, helping you to love and obey. Let him lead you to that place where your heart begins to beat so closely with God’s that it’s difficult to distinguish between the two.

Love God, and in the intimacy of that love, obey his heart.

By Jon Walker
used by permission

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“Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.”
Psalm 51:8 (NIV)

In the school of Christ, brokenness is a good thing.

Here’s why: It’s impossible to become intimate with God unless we are broken of our independence, broken of our pride, and broken of our insistence that our way is better than God’s.

We must be broken of the illusion that we bring anything to the peace talks when we seek to end our war with God; the only surrender God requires is unconditional.

• Brokenness is the last stop before we finally confess, “I can’t; God can.”
• Brokenness is the apostle Paul confessing, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24 (NIV).
• Brokenness is the prodigal fighting with the pigs over food. Luke 15:11–32.
• Brokenness is Joseph, still in prison, forgotten by the cup bearer. Genesis 40:23.
• Brokenness is Jonah in the belly of a whale, confessing the consequences of running from God: “I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” Jonah 1:12 (NIV).
• Brokenness is Peter weeping bitterly outside the trial of Jesus.
  Luke 22:62.
• Brokenness is Jesus abandoning everything to God: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 (NIV).

God breaks us so he can use us. We can smash our pride against the solid rock of Jesus, confess our sins, and admit our need for him; or the stone can fall on us, meaning God in his ruthless, loving pursuit of us will break us of our pride, sin, folly, and independence. Matthew 21:44.

Like Jesus serving bread at the Last Supper, God takes us, breaks us, blesses us, and then uses us.

“Oh, Lord, may you hear our joy and gladness; may the bones you have crushed rejoice.” Psalm 51:8 (NIV, author paraphrase).

By Jon Walker
Used by Permission

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The post Brokenness as a Good Thing appeared first on Thoughts About God.

In every need, Jesus invites us to exchange our insufficiency for His all-sufficiency. He longs for us to substitute our “I don’t have” for “I have all I need in Jesus.” His strength shines best in our weakness. Jesus says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

Like Paul, we can say, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

Who He is to us is so much more than what He does for us. His person is inseparable from all His power and presence. Your may have been told growing up “Be a brave boy” or “Be a brave girl,” but Jesus tells us not to worry about feeling brave or putting on a happy face: just let Him be for us who He is for every need.

Aren’t you glad? It’s called grace–God’s enabling presence. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). We take great hope that more than what God does, it is who He is that really makes the difference.

Pray this way:

Come, Holy Spirit, and give (my loved one) a new revelation of Your covenantal-keeping love and power, and minister to (my loved one), spirit, soul, and body at this moment.

Where they are weary, give them Your strength in the resurrection power of Jesus.

Where they are hurt, rub in Your healing oil of comfort and peace.

Where there is self-doubt, minister the truth of Christ in them, their hope of glory.

Where they are striving, give them rest in Your grace, Your trustworthiness, and Your timing.

Where they are spiritually dull, give them fresh Bread of Life to eat and Living Water to drink and draw them into greater intimacy with You.

Where they are afraid, banish fear with the sound of Your voice, assuring them of Your nearness in love and faithfulness.

Where they are despairing, give them hope that You do all things well. Let them know whom they have believed and be persuaded that You are able to keep what they have committed to You.

Where there deceived by sin, convict and grant repentance. As they repent, forgive and cleanse them, and break strongholds of evil from their lives.

Where they are under fire, give them understanding of the larger spiritual battle, and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat the schemes of the evil one.

Where they feel alone and abandoned, surround them with covenantal relationships to encourage them, and make them aware of always being in Your presence wherever they are.

For their every need, be their Jehovah-Jireh provision.

by Sylvia Gunter
used by permission

Taken from Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence, Vol 2, page 169

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The post Holy Exchange Prayer appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“If we love our Christian brothers and sisters it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life.” 1 John 3:14

When the truth of God touches our hearts, we know we cannot overcome the hardness of heart and pride just by the force of our own reason.  It is only through death to ourselves that we can pass into life.  There is no real conversion from the life of sin until we realize that our whole nature must be parted with, but we discover that in ourselves we cannot do it.

Through this despair we lose all our life to find a new one in God.  Here faith, hope and true seeking for God are born.  But  up to this point, faith and hope and turning to God in prayer have been practiced only by obligation and method.  They are not living qualities of a new birth until we have stopped feeling any confidence in ourselves.

We must feel within the reach of divine love.  We must feel that God created us to be a habitation of His own life and Holy Spirit.  In dealing with us, LOVE is God’s bait.  It will put its hook into the heart and make us realize that nothing is so strong, so irresistible, as divine love.

By Andrew Murray

From: ‘Teach Me to Pray’
Used by permission.
published by Barbour Publishing, Inc.

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The post The Despair of Self appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is — what is good and pleasing and mature.” Romans 12:1-2 (CEV)

“Yes.”

The answer was not someone yelling or even speaking loudly. In fact, it was not even audible. But it was clear and my answer in response was “Yes.”

I was in my last year of university. Like most forth year students, I was asking, “Now what?” I had my list: grad school, seminary, teacher, student ministry, naturalist…. I prayed and went through a list of pros and cons, considering the options as they related to my passions, desires, and giftedness. I attempted to hold all the options with an open hand: “God I trust You. I know You love me and have the best plan for my life.”

The discernment process involved talking to friends, reading the Bible, seeking wisdom from others, and asking God for direction. After a few months, I was alone in a prayer room:

“God it seems You want me to be in ministry; is that what You want?”

The answer came clear and simple, with deep conviction:

“Yes.”

But more than a call to a specific ministry assignment, God’s call was an invitation to surrender to His love and plan, and to have a deep, intimate, moment-by-moment relationship with Him.

This close relational connection is the secret to direction. Our surrender will be the soil from which God directs. His direction becomes clear as we gain a deep wisdom and understanding of who He created us to be.

Since God’s call is primarily to have a relationship with Him characterized by daily surrender, what we do vocationally or ministry-related is an expression and over flow of God in us.

Father, I surrender. I rest in Your perfect love, wisdom, and plan for my life. I present myself as a living sacrifice. I hold this day and all I desire before You with an open hand. I trust you. Amen

By Mike Woodard
Used by permission

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“So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD. And he worshiped the LORD there.” 1 Samuel 1:28 (NIV)

Margaret McSweeney wrote,

“A mother’s heart knows how to stretch and to grow.
A mother’s heart knows when it’s time to let go.”

Yes, friend, letting go is an essential part of being a mother.
“Let go to let grow” should be your motto as a mother too.
A mother lets go of her baby’s hand so he can learn to walk.
She lets go of the bicycle handlebars so her child can learn to ride alone.
And she lets go of the apron strings so her young adult can mature.

But especially, a mother needs to let go and let God grow her son or daughter.
In the Bible, Hannah is a fine example.  She gave her son Samuel completely over to God.

She said “he will belong to the Lord his whole life.”

Yes, friend, let God have control over your children – no matter what age they are!

by Vonette Bright
used be permission

FURTHER READING

• Letting Go, Even When it Hurts 
• Will the Rope Hold?
• God Doesn’t Let Go

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Of all virtues, Jesus elevated meekness above the rest.

Why humility?

It is the door opener to grace, and no virtue enters our lives except that humility acknowledges our need and requests virtue to come. Without humility, we see no reason to change or appropriate future grace.

Yet, humility not only hosts the other virtues, it is also the life essence that sustains them. It is humility that recognizes when love is growing cold and humility that confesses our need for greater purity. Without humility, our virtues harden into lifeless statues; we are outwardly religious, but inwardly unable to change.

Humility is the taproot of true nobility. For it provides increase to wholeness, and life and maturity to all other virtues. It is the antidote to Pharisee-ism and the cure for a Jezebelian attitude.

A Child

Consider: when Jesus was asked by His disciples,

“Who then is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

He put a child in their midst. He said,

“Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mathew 18:1,4).

What a sublime wonder! In Heaven, the height of greatness is measured by the depth of one’s humility.

Consider Wuest’s Expanded Translation of Jesus’ statement:

“Therefore, he who is of such a nature as to humble himself like this little child, esteeming himself small inasmuch as he is so, thus thinking truly, and because truly, therefore humbly of himself, this person is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.“

Jesus came to establish Heaven in the lives of His followers. Thus, He introduces the realm of God to His disciples with the words,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Beloved, the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the “poor in spirit.” Who are these poor? They are people who “know their need” (Godspeed Translation). Beloved, there are people in Heaven who were sinners on Earth. The streets of God’s kingdom are filled with people who, at some time or another, failed and fell short. There are adulterers who’ve been washed and cleansed by Christ’s blood, ex-drug dealers and prostitutes whose hearts are filled with praise to God – all who came face to face with their need, repented and found forgiveness of their sins.

But there is not one proud individual in Heaven. There are no self-righteous beings in Heaven.

Here on earth we see the strutting pride – the air of self-importance – manifest in leaders and celebrities. Again, we behold the air of false superiority in our cultural prejudices. We see unrepentant pride in the conflicts that lead to divorce and the offspring of pride – envy and jealousy – in the inordinate desire of men to be glorified before other men.

Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the poor in spirit! Not the perfect, but the poor. Yes, we are called to standards of perfection, and strive we must toward that upward call. Yet, perfection in Heaven is measured, not in degrees of self-sufficiency, but in degrees of dependency and surrender. We can search for an eternity and we will observe truly: there dwells not one proud soul in all of Heaven.

Today, we cry for revival and pray for breakthroughs, and persevere we must. Yet the Lord’s eyes are upon a certain individual. He says,

“For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, ‘I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite‘” (Isaiah.57:15).

The disciples were arguing about who is greatest in the Kingdom. Jesus placed a child in their midst.

This is greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven: to possess a humble heart.

By Francis Frangipane
used be permission

Francis Frangipane
info@frangipane.org
www.frangipane.org
www.icitc.org
www.arrowbookstore.com

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