Faith That Pleases God

 Heb. 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

With God all things are possible, but for the impossible to happen we must believe. Believing God must be intentional. Faith is not a feeling that just comes over us, and we feel like believing. Faith in believing in God is knowing that God is who He says He is and will do what is always best. We must believe that He is in control of our lives and everything that happens is for a purpose. This is not to believe that God will always answer our prayers and give us what we desire. As Christians, we desire to please God every day of our lives. Life happens, and we are faced with the decision to trust God and believe that He will work all things out for His purpose and His glory. We diligently seek Him first, and He rewards us with His smile of approval. We seek first the kingdom of God and all the other things will happen in His time. I don’t pretend that putting our trust in God when bad things happen is easy. When we face the giants in our lives, and we feel that all is lost, we come to God and give it all to Him. We rest in knowing that He is a God who cares and understands what we need. Let our faith take hold in the God who is able to do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”(Eph 3:20). Let us have a faith that pleases God, even in the hard times.

Looking to Jesus

 Isaiah 51:1
 Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you dug. 

The start of a new year is always a good time to reflect on the previous year. The events we experience in 2024 no doubt shaped us and molded us in some way. Hopefully, it was for the good. Personally, it was a very stressful year. Dealing with the health decline of my mother and her passing was tough. Through it all, I was reminded that life is but a vapor. We enter into this world, find our purpose, live our destiny, and leave a legacy behind us. My purpose was to live for Jesus, to follow after righteousness, and daily seek His face. To always remember that He brought me out of sin, gave me a new life, and to live a life that would bring glory to His name. We do not want to live in the past, but looking back to see how God has worked in our lives can help our faith to believe that He is still able to do great things in the future. What the future holds, God only knows. Life is uncertain as to the days we have left, but we are to be vessels, ready and willing to be used by God for as long as He gives us breath. In 2025, let us look to Jesus. He is our help and refuge, our Rock of salvation. In every situation, He will bring us out and save us in times of trouble. 

The Things of this World

Job 1:21

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

How obvious it is when we attend a funeral that the person laid in the casket no longer is in possession of their worldly things. Without the life flowing blood of life, the flesh on the bones slowly decomposes and we return back to the earth. All of our striving for the things of this world are counted as insignificant compared to the eternal things of God. Society has conditioned our minds and hearts to desire the things of this world, that the things of this world will bring happiness and contentment. To a degree, they do, but they only last for a season. It is necessary that we maintain a spiritual mind set that our treasures are not of this world, but we have set our hearts on things above. We are born into this world without possessions , and we will leave this life empty handed. We are grateful for what God gives us and He desires that we be good stewards of it, but all things belong to Him, and like Job, we commit our lives into His hands, and praise Him regardless of the circumstances 

Thirsty For God

 Psalm 42:2
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God …

It is speculated that the average person can go 3 days without water before the organs start to shut down. Even within a day the body becomes thirsty and we start looking for somewhere to find water. Jesus is the Water of life, and my soul desires each day to drink from Him. We cannot survive spiritually without the Water of life. That is why it is imperative that we daily come to the well of living water, and draw from the living God. We may not always be able to take a block of time from our day, every day,  but daily it is necessary that we call upon Him, and put our trust and faith in the One who cares for us. He is our substance and He provides the strength and endurance to help us stand in the face of life’s challenges. The unbeliever wake up each day, and takes no thought of seeking God, thirsting after righteousness. They are blinded to spiritual things and seek only the carnal and natural things of humanity, but the Christian has been made alive and the source of this life comes from the Living Water. Like the women at the well, He desires to give us the living water, water that will satisfy the longing of the soul, water that will fill the heart with His divine love, water that flows from the fountain of life. “Lord, give me this Living Water for I thirst for you”

Rain Bread From Heaven

 Exodus 16:4

…Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you,..
Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide (Gen 22:14) the promise given to Abraham and now given again to the people of Israel as they make their way through the wilderness. Like Israel, we are making our journey through life in this world. Navigating are way through the difficult circumstances, traversing across unknown territory. We all face different unknowns and wonder how we will make it through our situation. The needs are different for each one of us. Some needs are material, others emotional or spiritual. The reality is that Jesus is all we really need. He is the bread that is rained down from Heaven, He will supply all our needs according to His riches in heaven. When we seek first Him and His kingdom all the things that we really need are added to us. God knows what we need and how to supply it. It is not always in the way we think, but our needs are met and His name is glorified, for He knows what is best. It is about to rain bread from heaven, start gathering your baskets for He is Johovah-Jireh, He is enough.

Wisdom From Above

 James 3:17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

Wisdom is knowing God and applying God’s truth with gentleness and mercy. Standing for what is right in a harsh and judgmental spirit is not wisdom from above. Wisdom from above is given without guile or evil intent. It seeks to bring peace to a situation and not division. Wisdom from above is transparent, it does not seek to deceive or manipulate. The danger that faces Christians is that the influence of the world can impair our thinking and attitude toward others and life. The wisdom of the world is to look out for self, depend on human ingenuity, and the arm of flesh. Instead of depending on God to see us through, we try to figure it out ourselves. When we seek first the kingdom of God, we are seeking the wisdom from above. Each day we face situations where we need wisdom in the words we speak and the actions we do. May we pray that God will give us the wisdom from above to do what is right, full of mercy and good fruit.

He Supples All Our Needs

 Philippians 4:19
 But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
What is it that you need? We are three dimensional beings, we have physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. We need food to keep our bodies functional and healthy, shelter to keep up safe from the elements of nature. Emotionally, we have needs of belonging and connecting with others. But our greatest need is our spiritual needs. We all were born with a void in our heart that desires to be one with our Creator. This need was provided to us by Christ. He is our all in all. He is all we need. Our physical and emotional needs can be found when we make Him first in our lives. Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things (needs) shall be added unto you.” According to His will, for He knows what is best for us. He did not say that He would grant our every wish or desire. Set our affections on things above, and not on things below. The things below are corruptible, they are temporary and fade away. But the things above are eternal, lasting forever. Examine our needs in light of His will, submitting our lives daily to the one who created us.

Servant of All

Mark 9:36

 …If any man desires to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

Being first is the prize that we often seek to achieve. We like to be in first place. We strive to achieve the gold ribbon, and the award and recognition it gives us. In many cases, we work hard to achieve that goal. In the arena of sports this is the ultimate goal to say you are the best. I don’t believe that such aspirations and desires are sinful. It is possible that it could become a sinful aspiration, if obtaining the goal is in opposition to being a servant of Christ. Your ability and desire to serve others. If your means to an end keeps you from doing the will of God in your life, then it is time to change your goal to be first. Jesus said that if you truly want to be first, you must first seek the kingdom of God, you must be last, and be as a child and take on the actions of serving others. To be first in the Kingdom of God is to have a servant's heart, looking for opportunities to help others, often sacrificing your own desires and comfort. This is the ultimate goal of a Christians, to be first in the service for Christ. 

Turn Back To God

 Isaiah 55:6
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

There are times in our lives that we sense that God is near. Things in our lives happen, and God reveals Himself to us wanting us to draw near. But in this passage, Isaiah was speaking to a people that turned their heart away from God and living self absorbed lives. They only cared about themselves and only that which gave them satisfaction. They refused to walk in the way of the Lord and follow God. God in His mercy, makes the plea to turn around and return to the right path. He who made heaven and earth and formed man wants his creation to return back to Him and take the way of righteousness. He is near and is calling out to everyone who will listen to turn from their wicked ways, humble themselves, pray, and seek the face of God, He will forgive their sins and wicked ways.

Not By Bread Alone

-->

Matt 4:4 

…Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God.

Man is not just a physical being in need of nutrients to keep them alive and healthy. People are created with a mind, body, and soul. People cannot truly live if they don’t feed the whole person. As creatures of flesh, we tend to focus on the body. Hunger, thirst, strength, and pleasure. But there is more to life than fulfilling the needs of the flesh. Man does not live by this alone, but it must be feed food from above, manna from heaven, the word of God. And this is the Word of God that speaks. Christ the bread of life, the fountain of living water, the One who gives spiritual and eternal life. The temptation is to put priority in making sure the physical needs are met first. This is known in the world as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This is the way of the flesh. But Jesus’ hierarchy teaches that seeing God as our greatest need and then trusting Him to provide for all our other needs is the way of God. The greatest teacher that ever live on earth said,  “Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you”. 

True Worship

Matt. 2:8 “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”

God was not fooled by Herod hypocrisy. Neither is He fooled by our fake worship. Saying we love Him and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, yet our lives don’t reflect His loving spirit. Selfishness still dwells within the heart. We may call ourselves “Christians” but it is only lip service. We may even go to church, the place of worship and sing songs of praise, but our heart is far from living our life in the word of God. Herod never did find Jesus, because he really was not a true seeker after God. To be a worshiper of God, one must be a seeker after Him and desire to live in His presence. Seek Him with all your heart, and you will find Him. When you truly find Him, you will surrender your life in full obedience. He will be Lord of all, and your knees will truly bend in worship.

Commit Thy Works

Proverbs: 16:3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Commitment is hard to find in the day we live. People are afraid to commit because they fear that such a commitment will interfere with what they want to do. Committing our works to the Lord means that there’s things in our lives that we will probably have to put aside. Any commitment demands that we give time. Committing to spend time alone with God, committing to attend the house of God, committing to do acts of kindness, committing to love as God would have us to love. Commitment demands our full attention. Commit to seek first the kingdom of God with all of your heart. Commit your way to God, and He will give you the desires of your heart, He will establish your thoughts to be His thoughts. “Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with thy might”.