Placing Our Confidence In God

Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.

 

1 Chronicles 21:1

 

God always requires total trust in Him alone for our victories in life. Throughout Scripture we are cautioned not to place our trust in the strength of horses, other men or our own abilities. In 1 Chronicles, David's decision to take a census was a failure to keep his trust totally upon the Lord.

 

David's purpose in counting his population was to assess his military strength, much like the second census taken under Moses (See Numbers 1:2–3). David found 800,000 men eligible for military service in Israel, and 500,000 men in Judah (See 2 Samuel 24:9), more than double the previous head count.

 

David's commander evidently recognized the grave error that his king was about to make. "But Joab replied, 'May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all my lord's subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?'" (1 Chronicles 21:3).

 

Joab was right—the census displeased the Lord. David was falling into the temptation of trusting in the size of his army rather than in the Lord. In consequence, God punished David and reduced his forces by bringing a plague that killed 70,000 men.

 

How do we avoid placing our trust in God today?

 

Do we trust our bank accounts, our skills and the security of our job?

 

When we begin to place our faith in these things instead of in the Provider of these things we get into trouble. Today and always, place total trust in the Lord for all of your needs and He will provide beyond all that you can imagine or think.

 

Thoughts On Purpose

…and called us... according to His own purpose…

 

2 Timothy 1:9

 

We see that Christ is the purpose and the practicality of being our purpose. When we begin comprehend that we are now the conduit, the means of the life of Christ (which is the life of the Father) to be lived out in and through us—in our talents, gifts, and skills—purpose then takes on a new meaning.

 

See, the Scriptures are clear that there is only one God, out of whom are all things. All things and all people have a purpose and the purpose is found in their Originator, The Lord God—He set forth the plan in Christ. Christ is the plan and the purpose of God. What we have to do is get in Christ. The word "in" is a locative word meaning "in the realm or sphere of". To be in Christ is two-fold:

 

1. Principally done by Calvary obtained by faith in the finished work of Christ. This is us sharing in His life, death, burial and resurrection. This is nothing that we did, but what God did in Christ by reconciling us to Himself.

 

2. Walking in the Spirit. That is, walking in the realm and sphere of the Spirit. That means letting the Spirit of God be our teacher, leader, guide, counselor, etc.

 

To walk in the Spirit is simply to be led of the Spirit in our life. One must cultivate a relationship with God and begin to respond to the Spirit's beckoning. The Spirit of God will lead and guide us. All we have to do is respond. It is when we try to get ahead of the Spirit of God, we stumble and fail.

 

Too often Christians push aside this pertinent truth of the leading of the Spirit. We cannot disregard this truth. It is essential. But many discount this aspect of our Christian walk because it is seemingly too hard to grasp.

 

It isn't brutal, but it calls for the denial of the carnal nature (the nature that opposes God) and its appetites.

 

Have you ever known someone that you wanted to speak to but yet were afraid to approach them? When you finally do get the nerve to approach them, you struggle at first to converse with them, and as time goes on, perhaps after future meetings with this person, you become less concerned with the struggle you originally had.

 

Granted this is somewhat different, but the principle applies as well. As we begin to respond to the Spirit and yielding to the Spirit, we will find the struggle within us to obey not as difficult as we first made it. This is not to say that one does not sin or stumble. Those are "side-issues", but they do not negate our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. They may hinder it, if we allow them to, but these will never negate it.

Excellent In All The Earth

O Lord, our Lord,
How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

 

Psalm 8:9

 

 

God is a being who is so big and awesome that it is just a wonder that He even notices us. Really think about it—God is so incredibly huge, so much more than we could ever imagine with our tiny, finite minds. And yet, He not only notices us, He knows us and cares for us. How we need to be reminded of that!

 

And everything good in our lives is completely of grace and a gift from God, because of His unbelievable generosity of love and grace and mercy, He punished His Son instead of us and has given us a brand new life, with so many blessings we could hardly count them.

 

Often times we need to take our minds off ourselves and believe and trust what God has done for us—the endless number of blessings and gifts.

 

God is good!

 

He always has been, always is, and always will be. And He will help us to know that in our heart of heart that He is excellent in all the earth.

No Regrets

 

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

 

Philippians 3:8–9

 

Jesus Christ is the sum and substance of all good living, and Paul had discovered this firsthand. He had come to know that nothing is quite as good as knowing and living with Jesus. That's why he let go of everything that might hinder a deeper intimacy with his Lord. What Paul gained so far outweighed what he gave up that he was able to consider his losses as comparatively worthless.

 

But it is only when we consider all that Paul gave up—prestige, power, authority, friends, the comforts in life, and eventually, his very own life—that we get the full picture of just how valuable a relationship with Christ really is. Are we willing to do what Paul did, even, if need be, at the price of friends or family or personal comfort?

 

Paul was able because the riches of knowing Christ were so much more enjoyable and worth having than anything he had left behind. Most of us are familiar with martyr Jim Elliot's words: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Jim knew what Paul knew and what we can know too—that those who leave precious things to follow Christ will have no regrets.

Pressing On

Your heart I seek to find

You have fashioned me

Let me be used by You

For that is what I am longing for

 

I want the whole world to know

That You are worth living for

 

Should my life cease to flow

Should all chaos take control

Should I stumble and take a fall

Should I loose all hope

 

I will call out

For You to rescue me

 

I will run

I will try

I will press on

I know what my life is for

 

For my faith I will live

For my faith I will die

For You alone I live

For You alone I carry on

The Lord Is Good

 

 

If we believe that the Bible is true in every regard, we must acknowledge goodness as one of God's most notable attributes. These verses below are a mere glimpse into the vast collection of Scripture which speaks of God's goodness. He is good when He pours out abundant blessing. He is good when He comforts in the midst of suffering. He is good when He answers prayer. He is good when He provides strength in weakness.

 

• I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good besides You." Psalm 16:2
• Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. Psalm 25:8
• I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13
• O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 34:8
• Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart! Psalm 73:1
• But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works. Psalm 73:28
• Indeed, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its produce. Psalm 85:12
• For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations. Psalm 100:5
• Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Psalm 106:1
• But You, O God, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name's sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me; Psalm 109:21
• The Lord is good to all and His mercies are over all His works. Psalm 145:9

 
How then shall we respond?

 

Respond with praise and thanksgiving.

 

Respond with a life that reflects eternal gratefulness and worship toward a good God. Respond by giving Him your all, and "finding out what pleases the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10).

 

The Lord is good!

Experiencing Growth Through Humbleness

 

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

 

1 Peter 5:6

 

 

 

In 1 Peter it talks about humbleness, which is characterized by the willingness to follow God, receive learning, and experience growth. The more we grow in Him, the more humble and useful we become, and better able to connect with others.

 

Humbleness does not mean being weak.

 

It means being strong enough to yield to God rather than to ourselves or anything outside of God's call. Peter tells us we had better be humble, not only toward one another, but toward God—this is so straightforward. Secondly, he states along those same lines, that we ought to be humble toward one another so that we can know the grace of God, and not be in opposition to God.

 

This is so essential in our growth and can best be cultivated during our personal quiet time with God.

 

The key to the success of finding and developing faith is simple; it is obedience. We must be ready to serve God rather than our needs, even before we know what the call may be, and take this mindset into every area of life and to others.

 

This means that faith goes beyond self to grow.

 

We see this take place in our lives, when we allow the impacting work of God to continually renew and build us—to grow even further into His likeness. The more we purpose to spend in the Word and in prayer, the better we see and understand God's will for our lives, which is for us to totally surrender and trust in His power and authority, and to abide in Him.

Vessels For The Gospel

 

Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

 

Philippians 1:27-28a

 

 

 

The gospel is a holy message that should be represented by a righteous life. God didn't entrust the gospel message and the proclamation of this wonderful news to people who are not living right and don't intend to change. A changed life gives full credibility and integrity to the message that's preached, which then will produce change in someone else's life.

 

In Philippians 1:27-28, Paul emphasized that we are not the gospel, but we are to be clean vessel that the gospel is being served from. No one wants to partake from something that is dirty or unsuitable for the manner it was created for.

 

We need to examine our lives.

 

Are we clean vessels for God to use?

 

If He places us in an opportunity, will others want to disregard us, because we are unfit for such an undertaking? 

 

When we get so focused on living for ourselves, we tarnish what God has and miss out on being vessels used by Him. The gospel calls for urgency both in dealing with sin in our lives, loving God and others, and proclaiming the message—they need to hear the truth, so we need to share it.

 

The "good news" is not just a message we share—it is the life we live—people need to see the gospel as well as hear it.

Immediate Verses Delay

 

Sometimes we want the immediate than the delay and in choosing the immediate we sacrifice the wisdom of choosing what is best—God's will which is always best—for the delay.

Encouraging Words From The Book Of Psalms

 

At times in life when we come up against challenges or are at a place where it is time to step out, we soon realize that we really are not in control of our lives, but that Someone with far great power and wisdom is.

 

As we look at Psalm 46 we can see who that Someone is and that is God… take a moment to read the entire chapter of Psalm 46.

 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress (Psalms 46).

 

Let us not faint, but hope always...

 

God will be exalted among the nations, we must be still with full confidence in His might—He is a present help and a faithful refuge.

 

Therefore we will not fear…

 

Taking Time Out In The Journey Called Life

 

With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:11

 

It is important and valuable to slow things down and take the time to rest and soak in life. The energy and renewal that slowing down can give us is so vital in many areas of our lives. Yet as much as rest, relaxation, and taking a "time out" in life are important it can be hazardous if we take that "time out" for too long. If we step away from life altogether or for long periods of time, then sometimes the hazard is in being afraid to step back in it again.

If we are away from being social with others for too long of a time frame, it is more than uncomfortable to find our way back into those relations again. If we don't ever travel and participate in life or impacting other people's lives, it is too easy to say that we can't do it, or that the lifestyle just isn't for us.

We get too comfortable.

 

And that is a very different problem than just needing some time to replenish our souls amidst a busy society. We get in a rut and learn to lean on our own isolated comforts instead of going out and living life and letting that "living" breathe its own life back into our hearts.

Everyone has a purpose here on earth, but if we let our fears of rejection, of not being good enough for something or whatever it might be get in the way of our throwing ourselves into living life, then we are simply victims of that fear.

 

Living in fear is simply not living.

Taking the time to slow down our lives is important, but it has its time and its place. Being involved in life and in impacting other people's lives has a very real place too. That can't be done if we don't interact with others or allow ourselves to take part in opportunities that sometimes may throw us in new and uncertain situations.

We will find that when we take some risks in life, if those risks are what we sense God leading us in, we will get just as much energy as if we took "time out" from life. It's just a different kind of fire that lights inside of us; yet every bit as important.

Make sure that you aren't simply sitting around dreaming, but that you are actually going out there and living. There are opportunities everywhere and God can use you—now. Don't let the fear, doubt or disbelief keep you out of the journey called life.

Obedience Based Decisions

 

We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.

 

Acts 5:32

So often we as a society equate numbers with success.

 

Think about planning a conference for a minute... what would happen if registrations in regards to numbers, were not where they needed to be a few weeks before the date of the event, and you began to get frustrated about the level of attendance.

 

Would you immediately allow that to drive you to gather up more to attend or would you be satisfied with those faithful few that would be attending?

 

We are all called to be led by the Spirit, not by outcomes. If God called us to put on a conference, then the outcome is up to Him as we have done our part.

So the day comes for the conference and you know you have done what the Holy Spirit has directed. The speaker stands up and begins to welcome people as though there were many in the room (even though no one is in the room at all). He introduces his friend and they begin the meeting. A few minutes later, people start to straggle in and by the time the meeting is over, ten had shown up, and one man in particular was impacted by the meeting.

Being led by the Spirit often means we must not use the world's standard for success as our measuring stick. You never know what an act of obedience will yield at the time—we must leave the results to God. Our role is to obey and from our obedience we will see the results and blessings that God has in store for us, even if it was not what we had expected or planned on.

Do you make decisions based on the potential outcome or by the direction of the Holy Spirit in your life?

 

Do you overly evaluate the pros and cons without consideration to what the Holy Spirit might be saying deep inside?

 

We are all prone to make decisions based on reasoning alone, instead though, ask God to give you a willingness and ability to hear the Holy Spirit and to obey His promptings.

That Which God Began

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 

Philippians 1:6

 

 

 

Do you understand what God has done?

 

He has deposited Himself in you.

 

As we grow in the knowledge and grace which God extends to us, we begin to change as we obediently follow He's teaching.

 

Following in obedience to God is not an option; and we must purpose to trust Him and the power of the Holy Spirit within us ("I will put a new way of thinking inside you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh. I will put my Spirit inside you and help you live by my rules and carefully obey my laws" Ezekiel 36:26–27) to complete that which He has began in us.

 

There will be times in our lives when we become distracted and chose to walk in disobedience, blinded by the real issue that is keeping us from following in obedience to God—sin.

 

It is not that sin has no more presence in our life, but rather that sin has no more power over our life. Temptation will pester us, but temptation will not master us as we put our focus on God and follow faithfully after Him.