KathLF

It's about God
2018-03-15 06:43:25 (UTC)

Lent Day 25

I am bursting with all these awesome ideas that God has given me to drive community projects for His Kingdom! It makes me excited to see such good responses to testimonies, especially how it affects the person who gives their testimony. It makes my heart happy to know that people feel like they are making a true difference in our community.


This morning God spoke to me a bit more about grace and repentance. Change isn't an easy process. I told God this morning that I am so tired of back sliding, of not being on board, of having my one foot on the ship and the other on land. I'm tired of failing at serving Him in obedience. He then gave me the following Scriptures;

JAMES 4:8 COME close to God with a contrite (remorseful, repentant) heart and He will come close to you. WASH YOUR HANDS, you sinners; and PURIFY YOUR UNFAITHFUL HEARTS, you double minded people.
- When I draw closer to God it is important to lay before Him what is truly in my heart and not with what I think is suppose to be there. Honesty is important when addressing all things in my life, especially when I seek His council and guidance. When the Holy Spirit identifies certain behaviors and areas in my life it is really important that I kneel before God with a heart filled with true understanding as to why my actions or thoughts are wrong.
- Understanding why a behavior is wrong is just as important as changing that behavior through repentance. Understanding will help me to connect with God on a more intimate level. With understanding I am able to really change because it helps me to agree with the Holy Spirit.
- The act of washing my hands is to make a permanent end to what I am doing wrong. Sin tends to become a habit. I get into the habit of drinking, cussing, being selfish, getting angry, lashing out, speaking ill of others etc. It is the habit of doing wrong that needs to be broken. Once the habit is broken I can formulate a new habit which counteracts the wrong behavior so that I might live a more healthy life in body, spirit and soul.
- Cleansing my heart will keep me from being unbalanced in my walk with God. Through cleansing I am able to make solid decisions about what is acceptable behavior and what is not. It then becomes easier to break habits and to keep them broken, not falling back into old behaviors and thought patterns.
- The more I am able to prevent sin from manifesting in my life through the door of disobedience, the closer I will be able to get to God and the closer He is able to get to me. The more I will hear His voice and the more I will be able to be used and blessed by Him. I am not used and blessed for my own benefit, for everything God does is in love, but I am used and blessed for the benefit of others. What God teaches me now, I am able to teach the generations to come. Whether it is my own or the generations of others. Either way, the changes the Spirit brings into my own life is directly beneficial to all life.

ISAIAH 40:27-31 WHY would you ever complain, o Jacob, or whine, Israel, saying; "God has lost track of me?" "He doesn't care what happens to me?" Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
- I tend to make my problems bigger than God by focusing on the things that have gone wrong or especially the things I have done wrong, instead of asking Him for help and trusting Him to help me. It is because I don't listen when He speaks and when I do listen I don't do what He says.

GOD doesn't come and go. GOD LASTS.
- God is the only constant in my life. Things change. I change. Today's troubles become tomorrow's blessings. Today the sun shines and tomorrow the rain cools the earth. There are storms that bring destruction and there is new life which brings hope. Everything always changes. BUT NOT GOD. He is the same Yesterday, today and tomorrow. His love, compassion, understanding, character, His commitment never fails, He is constant in a world which is ever changing. I have to search my heart because why would I question the only constant in my life and hold on to the variables? I need to change my focus, my understanding of Who God is.

HE is the Creator of all you can see and imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch His breath. And He knows everything inside and out.
- HE created me and the world I live in. He created every single thing, living and dead. He is the One that wove me together in secret in the womb of my mother. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows exactly how I react, how I think, how I feel, what I do, what I don't do and why I don't do it. He knows my weaknesses and my strengths and that is why nothing I do or say or think, good or bad, comes as a surprise to Him. My future is a memory to Him. That is why I can rely on His strength when I am weak because He never stops laboring for me. He never stops reaching out to me. He never stops talking to me. He loves me.

HE energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. BUT THOSE WHO WAIT UPON GOD GET FRESH STRENGTH. They spread their wings and soar like eagles; they run and don't get tired; they walk and don't lag behind.
- It's ok to get tired. It's ok to stumble and fall. It's ok to make mistakes and it's ok to admit to God that I cannot do this on my own, because i was never meant to carry any burdens on my own. If I wait on Him for comfort, for answers (instead of doing what I think is right because I am impatient), for Him to guide and strengthen me then no obstacle, no storm, no sin, no onslaught will ever be able to get me down.
A simple example...
God asked me to WAIT on Him regarding this pregnancy. Instead, I allowed myself to be coerced into testing earlier than what God had told me to. See, God knows that the issue of faith is a difficult lesson to learn. He knew that I was easily scared, and that if I didn't approach situations with faith in the right way, I might become scared, intimidated, negative and lose faith, hope and trust in what He had promised me. So, He asked me to trust Him and He gave me a date. I....made a mistake. One He knew I would make. I tested early and I had a negative result. The signs and symptoms were there. It told of the promise. As soon as I disobeyed God....my faith started to shake and crumble. The symptoms were no longer so strong, I thought, maybe...it's all in my head....the enemy sowed a seed of doubt. I allowed it. I realized then, that THANK GOD His promise and His goodness isn't based on my ability to be obedient, and as long as I return to Him He will restore me and save me from my sin and faults. Helping me to re establish my faith. There was a price to pay though.....I allowed satan to steal my joy. Joy I would have had if I was just obedient. But, I know that God will bless me still and restore even that which was lost. So, now I am excited and happy and I am looking forward to the 18th because I know....God is about to do something WILD!




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