“YOU ARE MY GOD!”

Psalm 31:14-15                                 (ESV)

    “[14] But I TRUST in YOU, O LORD;

        I say, “YOU ARE MY GOD.” 

    [15] My times are in YOUR hand;

        rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!”

Hearing from others how we need to give GOD more time to work things out lends to the notion that we are the ones in CONTROL, that we are better prepared to decide what is best for our lives???  Even when we were formed in our mother’s womb ( Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-18) GOD was in CONTROL.  

“The enemy” loves to cloud our vision with “the lie” that we are the ones that are making decisions about our future.  In 2007 I had plans that I would begin a foundation for helping underprivileged youth get out of the rut of poverty and become successful.  The plan was to start the efforts on July 09, 2007.  That morning I awoke at 5:30 AM to go to the bathroom with a Brain Hemorrhage.  

GOD never inquired of me for my opinion.  My lesson was that “YOU ARE MY GOD” and I AM NOT!  HE desires for ALL OF US to TRUST in HIM for everything, not just when we get in a bind.  About three weeks later I was brought out of a seventeen day coma that I wasn’t consulted about beforehand.  Sixteen years later I still have to be reminded that “YOU ARE MY GOD” is in CONTROL, not me!  

“YOU ARE MY GOD” is our dearest FRIEND (John 15:13-15), so why don’t we TRUST HIM freely rather than being placed in a coma???

“BE STRONG IN THE LORD!”

Ephesians 6:10-12                                  (ESV)

The Whole Armor of GOD

“[10] Finally, “BE STRONG IN THE LORD” and in the strength of HIS might. [11] Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

A lot of times our lives are operating at such a whirlwind pace that we don’t take time to BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD (Psalms 46:10) is saying to us.  For most of us, the remedy to NOT hearing from our CREATOR is to open the BIBLE for a few minutes with the intention of hearing from the LORD on our timeline.  Could it be that we don’t have the proper understanding of WHO HE IS and that we are not as important as we think we are???

In his letter to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul sums up his communication with “Finally, “BE STRONG IN THE LORD” and in the strength of HIS might”.  Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to STAND against the schemes of the devil.”  

I have never spent a lot of time in a facility where lifting weights was the main goal.  Being BLESSED with strength is something that I was gifted with by hard work and my genetics.  I never knew how strong I was until after I was recovering from the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007.  Losing almost twenty percent of your body weight in less than two months can reveal that to you.  My physical strength was very important to my recovery, but not nearly as important as “BE STRONG IN THE LORD”!

Spending an appropriate amount of time in BIBLE study and prayer time is something that is vastly under appreciated by humanity.  “Put on the whole armor of GOD, that you may be able to STAND against the schemes of the devil” isn’t something that should be ignored.  I need to “BE STRONG IN THE LORD”, not because I am important in HIS PLAN, but because HE lives inside my body!!!

“THEY MAY BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE!”

 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12                 (ESV)

“[9] The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with ALL POWER AND FALSE SIGNS AND WONDERS, [10] and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because THEY REFUSED to LOVE the TRUTH  and so be saved. [11] Therefore GOD sends them a strong delusion, so that “THEY MAY BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE”, [12] in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

KNOWING what is TRUTH isn’t because we live our lives holier than others.  It is because we are CHOSEN to represent THE KING OF KINGS and THE LORD OF LORDS!   

If everyone were subjected to the same experiences and conditions, it might be understandable that they would all turn out the same way?  But some EYES are OPENED and they are able to SEE the things in a perspective that GLORIFIES GOD IN THE HIGHEST (2 Kings 6:17)!!!

“Therefore GOD sends them a strong delusion, so that “THEY MAY BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE”, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” is an extremely terrible position to be in.  We who have been CHOSEN need to make sure that we tell everyone we love about THE LOVE OF JESUS in an attempt to make certain that they are NOT apart of “THEY MAY BELIEVE WHAT IS FALSE”!!!

“WAIT ON THE LORD!”

 Psalms 27:14                       (KJV)

“WAIT ON THE LORD”: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: WAIT, I say, ON THE LORD.”

Recently there was a video about people who did not “WAIT ON THE LORD” on social media that spoke to me very succinctly!  In my experiences, I have usually been one to FORGE AHEAD with my actions and then pray that GOD would bail me out of the problems I created with my impatience!  

Since the Brain Hemorrhage in 2007 I am learning to accept where I am, and WHO IS IN CONTROL?  For a person who had always been IN CHARGE of where I was going and what I needed to be doing, having the OMNIPOTENCE OF GOD displayed to me by being placed in a seventeen day coma was a VERY HUMBLING experience!  

Recalling where I was prior to July 09, 2007 is seemingly in a different life!  Moving at such a pace that I didn’t have time to SEEK GUIDANCE from ALMIGHTY GOD is NOT where I want to ever be again.  “WAIT ON THE LORD” is something that I have to constantly be reminded of, for the enemy is ALWAYS trying to convince me otherwise!  Cause me, HEAVENLY FATHER, to always remember to “WAIT ON THE LORD” and praise HIS NAME!!!

“YOU ARE MY REFUGE!”

 Jeremiah 17:14-17                           (ESV)

Jeremiah Prays for Deliverance

    “[14] Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;

        save me, and I shall be saved,

        for YOU are my praise. 

    [15] Behold, they say to me,

        “Where is the word of the LORD?

        Let it come!” 

    [16] I have not run away from being your shepherd,

        nor have I desired the day of sickness.

    YOU know what came out of my lips;

        it was before YOUR face. 

    [17] Be not a terror to me;

        “YOU ARE MY REFUGE” in the day of disaster.”

The prayer above is the beginning of what Jeremiah prayed to ALMIGHTY GOD seeking DELIVERANCE.  Jeremiah (650BC to 570BC) was a Prophet in the Old Testament who was called to reveal the sins of the people and the punishment that was to come.  He knew GOD was able to DELIVER him, but Jeremiah didn’t know what method GOD would use for the DELIVERY!

SEEING the DELIVERER through the confusion and turmoil of the trial is precisely what “the enemy” attempts to prevent!  Keeping our EYES fixed on our DELIVERER will bring PEACE (Isaiah 26:3) to us rather than fear and doubt.  

LORD, cause me to always ALWAYS remember that “YOU ARE MY REFUGE”, especially when “the enemy” attempts to disrupt my focus on YOU!!!

“DO NOT GIVE UP!”

 Galatians 6:9                        (ESV)

“And let us NOT GROW WEARY OF DOING GOOD, for in due season we will reap, if we “DO NOT GIVE UP”.”

The Apostle Paul was a fighter because he KNEW that his enemy was the “craftiest” (Genesis 3:1) of any beast the LORD GOD had made!  Likewise, we don’t have the luxury of fighting against a wimp, but against the “prince of the of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) who delights in deceiving Believers (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)!

We can NOT GROW WEARY OF DOING GOOD and “DO NOT GIVE UP “ because THE LORD is in CONTROL and HE IS VICTORIOUS!!!

“HE CHOSE US IN HIM!”

 Ephesians 1:3-6                               (ESV)

Spiritual Blessings in CHRIST

[3] Blessed be the GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHO has blessed us in CHRIST with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [4] even as “HE CHOSE US IN HIM” BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be Holy and blameless before HIM. In love [5] HE predestined us for adoption to HIMSELF as sons through JESUS CHRIST, according to the purpose of HIS will, [6] to the praise of HIS GLORIOUS GRACE, with which HE has blessed us in the Beloved.

We are CHOSEN IN HIM to GLORIFY HIS NAME, even though HE knew that I was the “least of these” beforehand!  But “HE CHOSE US IN HIM” cannot be fully understood unless we understand that we, the CHOSEN, have to be IN HIM to be apart of the CHOSEN!  

JESUS CHRIST didn’t select “the cream of the crop” when “HE CHOSE US IN HIM” BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD when HE selected me!  I was born to a mom who was a high-school dropout who was divorced by a father who survived polio as a child and was still trying to prove himself worthy when he had a stroke in 1990 and was incapacitated until dying in 1993.   Yet JESUS CHOSE me from the “least of these” to live inside of to illustrate HIS AMAZING GRACE to a lost and dying world!

This passage of Scripture has been written about many times, and it is because I am so humbled to understand that PERFECTION CHOSE the greatest imperfection to be cleansed from my unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) to GLORIFY HIS NAME!  Am I worthy of HIS selection?  NO!  But “HE CHOSE US IN HIM” anyway, and I am SO glad HE did!!!