Wait For It!

"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." (Psalm 27:13,14 NIV)

How many times have we heard the phrase--wait for it? Usually, the phrase has more to do with some spectacular event about to unfold and because it was spectacular, we're never disappointed. And we won't be disappointed as we wait to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living--this side of heaven.

How will we see the goodness of The Lord? When every born-again believer truly walks in their calling--whatever that might be and do the greater works that Jesus said we would do--the entire world will see the goodness of The Lord in everything we do!

Are we not created in His image? Are we not His children? Are we not able to do all He has put on our hearts to do, to His glory? When we become living epistles, read of men, others will see The 
Lord in us because we won't be able to hide the light of His love under a bush, but we shall shine brightly, as a beacon, drawing all the lost to The Lord by the love we show them.

Showing others love does not mean we compromise The Word of God by condoning sin in any matter. We must encourage people to live according to The Word, not in opposition to The Word.

Within the next few weeks, I am re-distributing a book on Amazon that will sound an alarm in the hearts of many and be a wake-up call to the Body of Christ. Some will hate the book (and probably me), some will love it, and some will be wary of the intent. The intent of the book, quite simply is to remind all of God's Word, what He has said about sin, and our what our response should be to those who propose to promote sin rather than godliness. And we can do this--showing love--not displeasing God in order to win people to us.

Our ability to win souls should never be about winning someone to be in our cheering section, or church, but encouraging them to repent, be forgiven, and develop a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Are you ready? Okay, just wait for it and wait for The Lord to see His goodness--through us--to overwhelm the land!

Why Praise Him?

"Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!" (Psalm 107:21)

Why wouldn't we praise Him for all He has done?

When people think they have accomplished things on their own and that He had nothing to do with it, I guess they wouldn't see a need to praise Him. But I know--without a shadow of a doubt that all that I accomplish is because of His goodness towards me and that He watches over my children and my grandchildren in response to my prayers.

O what an awesome God we serve!
What a way-maker He is!
What a healer He is!
What a provider He is!

If I had ten thousand tongues, I couldn't praise Him enough. Even in the midst of chaos and challenges, when I cannot see the way, He guides me and keeps me from stumbling too far from His grace. O what love He has for those who love and obey Him.

I would not change my life for any reason--no matter what happens, I know my redeemer lives and that He has only the best plans for my life and it is up to me to receive all of His many blessings and to share the Good news with others.

I'm praising Him for His love, mercy and grace!
I'm praising Him for good health and long-life!
I'm praising Him for speaking to the hearts of those who are reading or will read my books!
I'm praising Him for the insight He gives to pursue creativity in my writing!
I'm praising Him for being merciful to all who will receive His mercy!
I'm praising Him for restoration--love, peace, and tranquility in the land!
I'm praising Him because He's God and He's God alone!
I'm praising Him because He woke me up this morning, limbs working and mind intact, stayed on Him!

I'm praising Him because if He didn't do another thing for me, He's still an awesome God!
Hallelujah!

We Are Protected!

"The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name." (Psalm 91:14 NLT)

Many of us find ourselves in need of being rescued from various situations in life--car breakdowns, relationship breakdowns, financial breakdowns, and some even from fire or water hazards. Most of those rescues could have been avoided if we had simply made wiser decisions and not put our trust in people or things.

Sometimes, we think we know what we're doing when we purchase certain types of things, but when we do not maintain the things, they will break down on us.

Sometimes, we think we know what we're doing when we decide where to work or with whom we get into relationships, but then we realize we have made a mistake and we either get fired or get so frustrated we quit the job and end relationships.

How about this--let's seek God for every decision we have to make and trust His judgment and guidance in our lives! When we trust Him, we won't have to worry about making wrong decisions.

If we listen to Holy Spirit, He'll remind us when to get the oil checked, the tire pressure checked, and other regular maintenance on a car. He'll whisper in our ears when we're in the wrong places trying to seek employment. He'll also tell us when we're with the wrong people--if we listen.

Loving Him, and trusting Him puts us in a good position to be protected by Him and we can avoid the need for being rescued. However, if our love for Him is real, He will rescue us from ourselves and yet protect us from the unwise decisions we make.

Being in a relationship with God does not mean that we have reached perfection, but it does mean that we should be mindful of those things of which He's trying to warn us. When situations occur over which we have no control, He will rescue us!

I don't know about you, but I'd rather have His protection than the best insurance money can buy. He can do things and protect us from things that cannot be equated with monetary value. He deserves my trust and love beyond any other because It is He who gives me life and reason to keep going forward.

"I really love The Lord! Way back on Calvary, He gave me the victory and I really love The Lord!"

For Long Life and Prosperity!

"The eyes of the LORD watch over those who do right; his ears are open to their cries for help. But the LORD turns his face against those who do evil; he will erase their memory from the earth." (Psalm 34:15,16 NLT)

Starting with verse twelve--we're given a strategy for long and prosperity--keep our tongue from speaking evil and our lips from lying--and then we know that the Lord watches over those who do right, hears our cries, but He turns His face from those who do evil.

Whether people believe in God or not is a non-issue. His existence is not contingent upon our belief nor does unbelief change His Word. What He has said, He means and what He means, He says. There is no gray area or obscurity with God--and though He would prefer to see us do right, He sees when we do wrong.

Just as recently as yesterday, I read comments regarding one of the Duck Dynasty stars who had a seizure and ended up in the hospital. He was thankful to God for not dying and people attacked him for his faith. He knew God was watching and would guide those who treated him while he was in the hospital. This is a testament of his faith--experience with God--to share with others. He was right to thank God!

When the nurse who recovered from being infected with the Ebola virus openly thanked God for her recovery, people attacked her faith, accused her of spitting in the face of medical science. She knew what God would do for her and her recovery is a testament for those who did not believe, about how His love surrounds us, and when people listen to Him, He guides us to safety. She was grateful for the wisdom God poured into those who were treating her and for the prayers offered on her behalf.

Knowing and understanding God does not necessarily keep things from happening to us, but it certainly provides a means of escape when negative things do happen. This then is the evidence of Him watching over those who love Him. Those who know Him understand that He pours out His wisdom on all who are willing to receive it and the prayers of the righteous--those in right-standing with God--avail much.

These are not the only situations in which those who do not know God or understand how He operates, belittle those who do. If they knew Him, they would understand, but since they don't, they would rather belittle that which is unknown to them. Their belittling others gives them a sense of superiority that is false and will crumble at the first sign of calamity in their own lives. But then, they have no one to call upon for help in their time of need.

To live a long and prosperous life, we must not entangle ourselves with evil--those who do evil and lie to make themselves to be something when they are nothing. We, who know God because of our experience with Him, should pray for God to provide opportunity for those who do not know Him, to experience His Love, grace, and mercy for themselves.

The Path of Life!

"You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16:11 NIV)

If we know there is a path that leads to life, there must be a path that leads to death. When we are at a crossroad in our lives--standing at the intersection--trying to determine which way to go--God makes it known to us which path we should take--if we hear Him. Sometimes, because of our haste to get where we "want to be" we take the wrong path and miss the joy that was waiting for us on the path where God wanted us to be.

There is a way that "seems" right to man, but the end thereof is death. The paths we take don't always lead to a "physical death" but they do manage to kill the soul, deprive us of joy, and deter our spirits with sadness. Those roads we choose when we allow the flesh to dictate our every move instead of waiting and listening to hear God. Most of us have made wrong turns and it took us a while to find our way back to the path were God wanted us to be--where we now know joy, peace, and love.

Was there any joy on the path of destruction we took when we did not know better?
Was there peace on the paths of confusion and chaos that we followed when we thought people were more important to us than God?
Did we ever find true love--unconditional love--along the way we chose, looking for love in all the wrong places?

Thank God for Jesus! Because of His love for us, we are now on the right path--the path of life--understanding and experiencing the abundant life that we are promised when we follow Jesus. The joy of The Lord is our strength and we know on this path, we are never alone and when we get tired or weary, He is always there--the pillar on which we can lean, without fear of it crumbling. We have access to the peace of God that surpasses all understanding--on the path of life. No matter what is going on around us, no matter how much chaos or confusion ensues from those who are influenced by the enemy, we can know and have peace in our spirits and joy overflowing.

Make sure you are on the right path--the path of life--so you can experience the joy and love of God and share it with others.

Lord Jesus, thank You for speaking to our hearts and turning us around from the paths of destruction on which we once travelled. Thank You for loving us enough to make a way for us to have access to heaven and eternal life.

Who's Watching Over You?

The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. Psalm 145:20

Who are the wicked?

The wicked are those who refuse to acknowledge God and certainly won’t live according to His principles.

The wicked see no wrong in doing anything that appeals to their flesh.

The wicked see no wrong in doing anything that makes them look superior to others.

The wicked have no conscience and therefore, they see no wrong in anything they do.

The wicked have no heart to love, just a soulless void that can only be filled with hate.

The wicked care nothing for others and enjoy the plights of the poor.

The wicked do not even honor their own; when one falls into depravity the rest look on with envy and jealous, never mindful of the end results.

So who watches over the wicked? The sworn enemy of God is their overseer and he delights in their depraved thoughts and actions and when one falls  to the bottom of the pit of pitiful, the enemy laughs and moves on to the next one—who doesn’t have a clue or a spine. These are the wicked.

But the Lord watches over those who love Him and even when it seems like one of us is about to fall, an angel by direction of Love swoops in makes sure we do not utterly fall. Those who love God acknowledge Him, praise Him, worship Him and most importantly—obey Him. We obey by loving others—even when they are unlovable and cannot return the love. We love each other enough to respect and honor one another. We love each other enough to be considerate of each other. We love each other enough to tell each other the truth of any matter. We love each other enough to give sound advice and direction in all things. We love each other enough to hurt when one of us hurts, to rejoice when another rejoices and to comfort those who are grieving. Love never takes pleasure in the injustices that many suffer at the hands of a few.

The wicked are not so—they love to see injustice prevail over those who cannot stand for righteousness on their own. And God knows—those who are His and He gives strength to weak, and rest to the weary. He give courageous where there was none and determination to fight through to the end. He gives us boldness that overrides the boldness of the enemy and puts him to shame. He gives us hope—that we will endure to continue the journey upon which God has started us. He gives us love when we were unlovable and forgiveness for our sins. His grace and mercy shall surely follow us all the days of our lives!

What then will follow the wicked?

Who is watching over you and guiding your thoughts?

Showing Off!

"How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you" (Psalm 31:19 NIV).

When we have reverential fear (respect and reverence) for God--He will make sure that all who know Him are blessed abundantly (more than enough) and He will do it in front of all those who mock Him and those who believe Him.

God loves showing off--He makes the unbelieving believe by what He shows them in how He uses those who believe. He uses the foolish to confound the wise. The uses the weak and gives them strength to overcome the tricks of the enemy. He heals those who have been told by unbelieving man, "there's nothing else we can do." And they are so right. But God--can do all things and do them well.
God can and will perform miracles when miracles are least expected. We see it every day--"those things that occur that man cannot explain."

God can and will do everything He promises in His Word for those whose faith does not waver, no matter how the enemy attempts to cloak success in unbelief and doubt. When God says do it; we simply believe and do it. The measure of success--is not on us--but on God. Our role is simply to obey. Hallelujah!

If we want God to "show off" in our lives, we must believe that He is (everything He says He is) and He will (do everything He says He will do).  How do we do it? By knowing what He has said, developing a right relationship with Him, and obeying His voice! No magic--just untainted belief in the knowledge of the Most High!

Now, watch Him show-off for your benefit to His glory!