BELIEF

Believing in God=knowing he exists

Believing God=operating in relationship with him!

Update

Greetings readers, I hope this finds you well & happy.  I will probably not continue to write the blog and I was going to take it down as I plan to publish the contents elsewhere.  However, I was very surprised when I saw the number of visitors it has continued to have as I don't officially promote it anywhere.  For the time being I am going to leave it up, so please feel free to direct folks to it.  I just ask everyone to respect the Copyright notice.  The intent of the blog is to educate & inspire & I feel led to leave it here as long as it is being enjoyed.
Peace,
Liz

Hindering God's grace in our lives

This new year started out with a great feeling of new beginnings...not just a hope for it or a wish for it, but the sense of it being a reality!  Many things have crossed my mind as I contemplated this...how to better honor my Lord, how to be a better person, how to not just be a survivalist but a passionate force in this life & world-I realized in 48 short hours how many times I was blessed unexpectedly & thought about how expecting this & accepting this is the very essence of faith (not being arrogantly optimistic, but humbly grateful)...and then I heard a wonderful message dealing with the God-ordained margins in our lives and how we have lost sight of them.  Before I go on I have to share something I recently also heard that made so much sense-that we as believers can be not only arrogantly optimistic thinking we can twist God's arm &/or do anything we think of but also we can be cynically pessimistic, thinking God will do nothing & we can do nothing-neither should be our perspective-our perspective should be this-all things are possible with God, but that we too must do our part according to his word & be willing to wait on his timing & trust in his will.

Now then, most of the rest of this is largely from a message I heard with my own interjections/applications of things the Lord brought to mind.  It resonated with me as something that should be shared, & if you feel the same motivation, feel free to pass it on.  The basis of the message was that we are often so involved in having, doing, and being that we leave little or no room for the Holy Spirit to operate.  Remember, the Father sent the Son & the Son sent the Holy Spirit to comfort, to counsel, & to empower (2 Tim. 7) us.  Sabbath in Hebrew means holy & set apart.  God meant for & ordained we not constantly get, do, & strive to be.  Scripture also shows that we must consecrate (also known as anoint) ourselves & what we have been given (Joshua 3;5, Ex. 40:9-11) unto the Lord.  Who we are & what we have is a gift to be treasured & protected & used to serve him.

So anyway, the message spoke of our tendency to have a scarcity mentality-a fear of missing out-of not having enough-of not being good enough.  As a result we fill our lives & those of our children with constant activity (hyper connection) such as electronic device attachment, over-booked social engagements, extensive programs of performance based endeavors to the point there is no margin left around our lives to rest or to hear the Lord,   This over-extension leaves us in chaos & emotionally bankrupt.  It also results in kids & adults with emotional & psychological disorders.  Materialism brings the fear of not having enough often-a fear of missing something fosters too much "social" activity & even a "religious" form of over-work at times when we think we are indispensable to do our ministry when God may be asking us to stop momentarily & rest or look to something else for a moment-and often we think we must repeatedly prove ourselves to those around us & fail to see the Lord's out-stretched hand as a result.  It is OK to say no at times (this is practicing sabbath)-and the Lord does not request us to constantly prove our value-he created us!

When we allow all grace to abound in us we have enough.  (2 Cor. 9:8-11A)  We can't have that if we shortcut or override the grace the Lord extends to us.  We must practice stewardship (Mt. 25:14-29), not ownership-when we take what the Lord has given us and use it wisely we honor him, but when we squander it foolishly we dishonor him.  We do not have to "keep up with the Joneses", be in every club that comes along, buy every new gadget, jump on the band wagon at every request or invitation.  We easily over extend ourselves and find we are robbed of the very resources we were given by his grace.  We must maintain a Biblical financial perspective.  We are called to practice gratitude (Col. 3:16)-"we will never have enough until we are thankful for what we have" the speaker shared.  I would add that this does not just mean material things-it means family-it means friends-it means acts of kindness & helpfulness bestowed upon us-it means protections we have encountered & even struggles we have endured (for handled in a Godly manner they produce strength & growth).  A popular song says we often say "why doesn't God do something" when he says "I did-I created you".  Our prayers need to reflect more than just asking God to move, but asking for his wisdom in our movements...and always, always thanking him & praising him for who he is-our friend, our brother, our husband, our creator, our counselor, and so much more.

Finally, we must practice the presence of Jesus.- if we don't I submit the enemy will steal our joy, our talents, our God given desires, our peace, and so much more.  We tend to forget there is a real enemy with a real name & it is satan & God tells us he has come to kill, steal, & destroy.  We also tend to forget that we do have the power to overcome  (John 16:33)!  So how do we practice the presence of Jesus-it isn't just going to church, or Bible study,  praying the Lord's prayer or reciting scripture, but it is also listening for God's voice.  Many folks think they cannot hear the voice of God, but often pride is in the way, or they have been raised to believe only the pastor does, or they have become entrenched in a way of doing things that ties the hands of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26) to work (remember, God does not force us).  A good way to start to practice the presence of Jesus is to ask the Lord to change us, to open our heart to him, and to welcome him to do his will in us.  Quite often we mistake our desires for his!  When we change, our circumstances change-it impacts others, it blesses the Lord, and we learn new ways to see & enjoy the Lord & his blessings in our life.  

I once wrote that the best prayer we can pray is "Lord change me" & I still believe that,   We can certainly ask for changes in circumstances & in people even, but when we change his grace abounds in our lives for his spirit pours out all over us & fills us to overflowing.

See Col. 2:6-23, Gal. 5:1  re. the fullness & freedom of Christ-I pray that sharing what the Lord gave this speaker, and gave me, has blessed you & you may use it to bless others, for it is when we open our hearts to the word of God that we move ahead.  Never be afraid to read, consult, and absorb the whole word of God, for he is the Alpaha & the Omega, the beginning & the end.  Religion has caused us to forget relationship is the essence of Christianity, not legalism & certainly not ignorance of the word!  God bless you in this new & wonderful year of our Lord, 2015- a year of hope!