My Willful Choice

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18

It seems that the hardest times to proclaim rejoicing and joy in Christ are when we face the harshnesses of life. The unfairnesses and injustices of this world sometimes paralyzes our faith. When needs go unmet, friends desert us, health fails us, or provisions are no where to be found, our view of God is suddenly exposed for what it really is.

When life gets difficult can I still proclaim the truths I voiced so easily during the good times? Do I still say God is good? Do I still trust Him? Do I still find my satisfaction and fulfillment through Him? Do I still feel like I am the apple of His eye and revel in the truth that my name is engraved in the palm of His hand?

It is in the midst of difficult moments that those truths become more precious to me than ever before. I must not look at God through my gird of uncomfortable circumstances but rather I must look at the circumstances through the grid of truth about God.

I have found great strength during my seasons of doubting when I began to voice out loud the truths about God. My circumstances and feelings do not change who God is and how He feels toward me one bit.

So like Habakkuk, when life is not going well and all seems to be hopeless, I choose to rejoice in the Lord and joy in my God. I choose to continue to believe I am in his care and sheltered by His arms. I choose to believe God and praise Him at ALL times!

Father, sometimes I have to proclaim these truths in sheer faith. Amen.

Deliverance

There shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of the enemies. Micah 4:10

I use to not like the wildernesses of my Christian life. Spiritual highs were what I lived for and spiritual lows were avoided as much as possible. I did not know their purpose, what to do during the "dry" season, or what God could accomplish through them. So instead of reaping the richness of the moments I looked for the quickest way to exit!

Now that I am further along on my journey I can see a pattern. In Micah 4:10 God brings Israel out of the city. He often brings me out of my comfort zones and places of security. He lead them to a field. He brings me into my own spiritual wilderness. A place that feels dry and uncomfortable. But then deliverance comes!

I have enemies He desires to set me free from. Israel had other nations as their enemies. I have Satan, the flesh, and the world. Satan seeks to destroy me, my flesh longs to control me, and the world wants to influence me. Anything or anyone that leads me away from God and His purposes must be looked upon as an enemy to my walk with God.

God wants me to live in bondage to no person, habit, attitude, or idol. His desire is that I walk in victory and freedom. I must ask Him to reveal to me the places where I am not yet doing that. The areas that seem to have such a strong hold on me that I despair of ever being delivered.
God's words through Micah are for me to claim today and every day. He longs to redeem and deliver me. May I learn to see the truth and cooperate with his work to set me free.

Father, You hold the key to every lock on every chain that binds and confines me. May I allow You to continually set me free. Amen.

Who Am I Imitating?

For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever. Micah 4:5

I find that the people I get to know, spend time with, and highly respect have the biggest influence on my life. Their words begin to live in me as I find myself thinking like them, responding like them, even talking like them. That's called imitation and that's a good thing if who I am imitating is Christlike.

The same is true of following Christ. If I am saturating myself with His Words then it will have an effect on the way I think, act, and speak. He is the ultimate pattern for me to follow.
Sometimes I need a visual example of His character. So He graciously sends people into my life who demonstrate His qualities. When I see tenderness in another person I can more fully understand God's tenderness toward me. When a mentor allows me to be dependent on her for wisdom and guidance I can see Jesus as my personal mentor. When I have blown it and a dear friend embraces me (instead of abandoning me) I can understand more clearly Christ's willingness to forgive me and still love me.

I think of the gods people follow and they cannot compare with my Father. No other god daily demonstrates love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness. Under them there is no realization of being cherished and embraced. I have a personal God who wants me to know him.

Father, may I always chose to walk in Your name. How I thank You for letting me follow You! Amen.

Full of Power

But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. Micah 3:8

What is the key to owning power through the Spirit of God, and of judgment, and of might? Obedience! In Micah 3, God's judgment for Israel's disobedience was silence and the withdrawal of His presence. God saw the leaders' cruel treatment to His people. Just as Satan seeks whom he may devour, we see the devouring of God's people by the very ones who should have been protecting them, encouraging them, and patterning God to them. James says that teachers will receive the greater judgment. Why? Because they affect the lives of so many people. They can lead with the tenderness of Jesus or the cruelty of Satan.

There are times I feel the presence of God in my life. Just last night He replaced turmoil with peace, confusion with direction, and idolatry with worship of Himself. Like the tide that comes to shore and then returns to the sea, my load gave way to His touch. It took tears and a time of getting out in the open what was living in my heart. God truly does require honesty in the inward parts. It is then that He can come in and heal my spirit and restore to me the joy of my salvation. It is then that I can let go of the very things that have prevented me from taking His hand. Like the peace that follows a storm, God calms me inwardly and at that point surrender becomes my catalyst for receiving what He longs to give to me.

He is a God of exchange. He longs to give me strength for my weakness, forgiveness for my sin, direction for my wandering, joy for my tears, peace for my turmoil.

Father, today I revel in Your presence. Your Spirit as well as the spirit of judgment and power are mine when I yield to Your touch. You have once again engaged my heart and it is a place I long to always abide. Amen.

Settling Things

But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord..." Numbers 5:8a

Ever have a nagging feeling over a sin in your past that you have never been able to make right with the person? Maybe they've died or you've lost complete contact with them? I have often wondered what to do with those things. Although they have been confessed and forgiven I have often wished I could still make it right with them.

This morning in Sunday School a verse became crystal clear to me and I was greatly encouraged. According to Numbers 5:8 I can make restitution to God in the cases where the person is no longer reachable.

Think back to a time when you were younger and you decided to take some candy from a store without paying for it. I have found that the sins that nag at me are the ones I never got caught doing (at least caught by people). The store no longer exists and the owners are long gone. How can I then repay them for my theft? According to Numbers 5:8 I can give the money to God. It is the closure I need and the encouragement I appreciated today.

Learning to Let

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5

I never gave that little word "let" much thought....until tonight. I always summed this verse up to mean "think like Christ" or "have the same attitude as Christ." Sometimes I was left with the "just do it" mentality. Once again I felt like I had to just dig in with all my strength, grit my teeth, and somehow master having the attitude of Christ. I had to think like Him, respond like Him, act like Him when all the while I knew I wasn't Him! Result? Failure and a good reminder that "without Him I can do nothing."

So I looked up the word "let" in the dictionary....my favorite Bible companion. One definition jumped out at me! Let: to permit to enter. That simple definition shed new light on an all too familiar verse. What God wants me to do is allow Christ's mind to enter me...give His mind free access into my internal world.

My mind is already swimming with the thoughts of what hinders His mind from entering me? Certainly the world, the flesh, and the devil all readily bolt the doors as best they can. Christ will not barge His way in. He waits....hoping I will decide to give His mind entry.

May I start each day with an open invitation for Christ's mind to enter and dwell in me. And since I determine how long His mind will stay in me, may I desire a permanent residence!

Father, it is becoming evident to me that so much of this journey takes place in my mind. My thoughts become the catalyst for my actions, words, tone of voice, motives, etc... How much better to LET Your mind be that catalyst! Amen.

Believing the Lies

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. And see if there be any wicked way in me. Psalm 139:23, 24 (King James Version)

This morning I am looking at this verse in a different way. I use to think of God as a condemning, harsh judge who enjoyed nothing more than to pick my life apart, lay the ugly truth before me, and sharply tell me to start measuring up! With a view like THAT why would I ever feel like inviting Him to search me and know me? Activity was my way of trying to distract God from seeing the flaws or at least from me seeing them. I had somehow bought into the lie that God only sees my sin. The thought of God delighting in me, cherishing me, or loving me unconditionally was foreign to me.

But this morning as this verse came to mind I realized that God's searching is not to find out hidden things for Himself. He already knows every part of my life....inside and out. His searching is to reveal aspects of my life to myself. Sometimes that involves revealing sin to me. But many times it is also to reveal where I have been hurt, where I am still broken and bleeding, where I need to replace all the lies about God and myself with the truth.

Although at times this process can be difficult and painful it is always done with loving, gentle hands. God is continually reshaping my thinking. Just this week I have been realizing I still harbor many wrong opinions about God. When I find it difficult to tell God what I really think, feel, or fear He tells me in prayer that the difficulty comes because I still believe lies about Him. I still have someone else's face on Him. If I cower and hide I am still under the assumption that He is a God to be avoided instead of embraced. That His love is based on my performance of duties rather than a heart of love. That He prefers distance to drawing near.

He is daily helping me to see the twisted lies I have lived under. My view of Him is like a valuable painting that has been painted over. What God is doing is slowly taking away the chips of paint so that the Masterpiece of Himself can be clearly seen. And as I see the portrait restored to its original form I am able to trust His searching of me and knowing of my heart.

Father, I finally yield to Your searching and knowing. You are trustworthy, gentle, and good! Let me see what You have seen all along. Amen.