Habakkuk 3:17-19
17
Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,
The produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
And the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold
And there be no herd in the stalls,
18
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19
God, the Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s;
He makes me tread on my high places.
A colleague, who recently renewed her commitment to the Lord, is receiving and outpouring of blessings. God used me as a vessel to witness to her and one thing led to another and she finally decided to draw near to God again. As we were talking earlier about the recent turn of events in her life, I remember what my dad told me that if you’re being used to bless a person, your blessing is higher and greater than the blessing of that person.
There goes the battle in my mind again. The enemy reminded me of our current situation and was gearing towards making me doubt the word that the Lord gave me. But the Holy Spirit led me into remembering that passage in the Bible. I am likewise reminded of a passage somewhere in either the Psalms or Proverbs that states that you have to be happy for your brother when God lifts him up, because when your time comes, they will be happy for you as well.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
on restlessness...
Over the last few days, I found myself clinging into the ever thin thread of happiness that life has dealt me with as the year draws to a close. As I find our finances dropping, in the same way, I felt slowly leaning towards depression.
But God will not let that happen. His Faithfulness lifted me back. Amidst all the worries, what-ifs and what-might-have-beens, God made a way to make me understand.
I was going over the book that my father gave me and this is what the Lord has to say to me when my heart is cluttered with earthly worries:
I have seen people who are so wrapped up in their own self-efforts that they never have peace. They remain frustrated. They are trying to work to please God. However, the thing about working to please God is that you never know when you have done enough or performed well enough to meet His requirements. The devil will tell you, “You could have prayed longer. You could have gone to one more church service. God is not pleased with you.” This will always leave you frustrated and without peace.
But when you understand His grace, when you understand that God has already done the work, then all you need to do is receive His gifts of grace. All the pressure is off, and peace is the result.
God spoke directly to me with what the author wrote. And I am reminded of a verse in Matthew that tells us to live one day at a time.
But God will not let that happen. His Faithfulness lifted me back. Amidst all the worries, what-ifs and what-might-have-beens, God made a way to make me understand.
I was going over the book that my father gave me and this is what the Lord has to say to me when my heart is cluttered with earthly worries:
I have seen people who are so wrapped up in their own self-efforts that they never have peace. They remain frustrated. They are trying to work to please God. However, the thing about working to please God is that you never know when you have done enough or performed well enough to meet His requirements. The devil will tell you, “You could have prayed longer. You could have gone to one more church service. God is not pleased with you.” This will always leave you frustrated and without peace.
But when you understand His grace, when you understand that God has already done the work, then all you need to do is receive His gifts of grace. All the pressure is off, and peace is the result.
God spoke directly to me with what the author wrote. And I am reminded of a verse in Matthew that tells us to live one day at a time.
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