 A simple thought for the day... It's often far easier to lower our concept of God than it is to raise the intensity of the faith that lies within us. We can jump to judgement and try to predetermine what we think God will or will not do or who He may or may not be. And, if we're not careful, those same thoughts may lead us to a disbelief as to whether God even has the power to intervene in our lives at all.
Diminishing our conception of God diminishes our perception of God, and so, from there, the dominos inevitably begin to fall. From there, the soul can become twisted, diluted and loses its way in a world that would try very hard to convince us that God is restricted to being only who we think Him to be on our worst days. Don't fall for it. I'm so thankful that God is who He is, regardless of my often skewed conception of Him! Stay connected to God through His Word and feed your mind and heart with who He really is by the defining standard and truth of Scripture. He is and will always remain bigger, more powerful, more sovereign, more compassionate, more merciful and more loving than we can grasp with the human mind. Don't let Satan, the author of lies, use the circumstances in your life to divide your attention between situation and sovereignty.
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 Just a quick thought from my personal time with God today... But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. ____________________________________ Isaiah 43:1-3 (ESV) How much of Jesus do you really want?
Moreover, what are you willing to faithfully endure for the honor of sitting beside Him, learning from the Master, wherever He may lead? We often seek out Jesus as the panacea for all of our issues, as long as the remedy He brings to the table is palatable to our very refined and personally prejudiced tastes. If we are only looking for Jesus at the receiving end of a long checklist of personal preferences and greedy desires, we may want to keep looking. The depth and authenticity of our walk with Christ is not forged in the relative ease of calm waters and satiated personal agendas. More often than not, I have found that my walk with Christ grows exponentially when my level of comfort is challenged and the path I’m walking becomes steep and treacherous. It’s in those moments that God has my full attention. The promises that God made to Israel in the verse above are beautiful. Just as God promised to be with Israel through the waters and the rivers and the fires, so God is also with us. Child of God, we don’t have to look forward to adversity, but when adversity arrives, and it will, we should identify it as an opportunity to learn more about our God who will meet us there – in the fire. Don’t always default to prayers to simply be delivered from all adversity; instead, pray to find God within the adversity itself, because adversity will certainly come, and it arrives with purpose. God has allowed it for purpose. Adversity will teach you more than ease ever could. Don’t miss the purpose and the opportunity to learn more about the goodness, provision and love of God which is often disguised as something less than a superficial view of “blessing." |
AuthorKeith Beatty is a Worship, Missions and Media Pastor living in North Alabama. He's excited and very humbled to be a follower of Jesus Christ! Archives
August 2024
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